Kalanchoe beharensis Drake del Castillo (1903: 41)

Smith, Gideon F., 2023, Taxonomy and nomenclature of Kalanchoe beharensis (Crassulaceae subfam. Kalanchooideae), a variable, arborescent species from Madagascar, with reference to its horticultural derivatives, Phytotaxa 612 (1), pp. 1-32 : 7-8

Kalanchoe beharensis Drake del Castillo (1903: 41)

Also treated in:— Hamet (1908a: 29), Hamet (1910: 193), Raymond-Hamet & Perrier de la Bâthie (1915: 95, unnumbered Figure on p. 97), François (1937: 33, Plate XVI), Raymond-Hamet & Marnier-Lapostolle (1964: 33, Plate IX, Figures 20–22, Plate X, Figure 23), Hargreaves & Hargreaves (1972: 7), Jacobsen (1977: 283, Plate 103 Figure 2 ), Lamb & Lamb (1978: 509), Jacobsen (1986: 607, Figures 847–848), Allorge-Boiteau (1995: 9, 11, 14, 16 [Photo 8]), Boiteau & Allorge-Boiteau (1995: 154–156, 158), Rauh (1995: 116), Rauh (1998: 300–302, Figures 1095–1109), Descoings (2003: 147), Walters (2011: 257), Moore (2017: 238, 248–249), Smith et al. (2017: 307), Smith et al. (2019: 244), Smith et al. (2021b: 57), Smith & Figueiredo (2022b: 160–163).

Type:— MADAGASCAR. Southeastern Madagascar. Anosy Region. Behara, 8 juillet [ July ] 1901, G. Grandidier s.n. (lectotype, Herb. P barcode P00374194 ! and Herb. P barcode P00374195 ! [Images available at: http://coldb.mnhn. fr/catalognumber/mnhn/p/p00374194 (inflorescence) and http://coldb.mnhn.fr/catalognumber/mnhn/p/p00374195 (leaves in envelopes and inflorescence)]; consisting of two sheets interpreted as holotype by Boiteau & Allorge-Boiteau (1995: 154), corrected to lectotype by Smith & Figueiredo (2022b: 160).

Homotypic synonym:— Kalanchoe vantieghemii Hamet (1906: 110 , as ‘ Van Tieghemi ’) (see Smith & Figueiredo 2022b: 160).

[The name K. vantieghemii is not to be confused with K. tieghemii Raym. -Hamet in Raymond-Hamet & Perrier de la Bâthie (1914: 143), which is a synonym of K. laxiflora Baker (1887: 472) , a representative of K. [subg. Bryophyllum ] sect. Invasores Shtein & Smith (2021: 105) (see also Raymond-Hamet 1915: 123–127)].

Designations not validly published:—“ Kalanchoe beharensis var. aureo-aeneus ” Jacobsen (1970: 250), nom. inval. ( Turland et al. 2018: Art. 39.1).

“ Kalanchoe beharensis var. subnuda ” Jacobsen (1970: 250), nom. inval. ( Turland et al. 2018: Art. 39.1).

“ Kalanchoe beharensis var. beharensis ”, nom. inval. (see Rauh 1998: 300). ( Turland et al. 2018: Art. 26.3).

Notes on designations not validly published:—For “ Kalanchoe beharensis var. aureo-aeneus ” Jacobsen (1970: 250) included the following text only: “ K.— v. aureo-aeneus JACOBS.— St. wollig behaart; B. beiders. dicht wollig goldenbronzefarbig bis bräunlich behaart, Spitzen der Randzähne braun behaart, Haare an den Spr. und jungen B. weiss.” [English: “ Stem woolly-hairy; leaves densely woolly with golden-bronze-coloured to brownish hairs on both surfaces, tips of the marginal teeth with brown hairs, young stems and leaves with white hairs.”] (see also Jacobsen 1977: 283). To have been validly published between 1 January 1935 and 31 December 2011, inclusive, a name of a new angiosperm taxon must have been accompanied by a Latin description or diagnosis or by a reference to a previously and effectively published Latin description or diagnosis ( Turland et al. 2018: Art. 39.1). Since this was not done, the designation “ Kalanchoe beharensis var. aureo-aeneus ” was not validly published.

This varietal designation was not included in Jacobsen (1954: 816–818), nor in Jacobsen (1986: 607).

For “ Kalanchoe beharensis var. subnuda ”, Jacobsen (1970: 250) included the following text only: “ K.— v. subnuda JACOBS. — B. ŗcks. ḑnn weiss behaart, obers. fast kahl.” [English: “ Leaf abaxially sparsely white-haired, adaxially more or less glabrous.”] (see also Jacobsen 1977: 283). This varietal designation was not included in Jacobsen (1954: 816–818), nor in Jacobsen (1986: 607). Under, inter alia, Art. 39.1 of Turland et al. (2018) the designation “ K. beharensis var. subnuda ” was not validly published. Rauh (1998: 300) regarded the leaves of “ K. beharensis var. subnuda ” as: “loosely white pubescent on the underside and nearly glabrous above”. Rauh (1998: 300) also noted that: “This variety [sic] may no longer be in cultivation.”

An autonymic variety, “ Kalanchoe beharensis var. beharensis ” (see Rauh 1998: 300), was not published in K. beharensis because, under Turland et al. (2018: Art. 26.3), there has not been an instance where a name of an infraspecific taxon was validly published under K. beharensis (see also Turland et al. 2018: Articles 26.1 and 26.2). Note that Rauh (1998: 300) regarded the leaves and stems of “ K. beharensis var. beharensis ” as: “completely glabrous and young leaves are often brown-red in color”. These characters are at present more often associated with variants included in Kalanchoe beharensis Glabrous Group (see ‘Notes on cultivar names and / or trade designations widely associated with Kalanchoe beharensis ’, below). It is noteworthy that the type of the name K. beharensis seems to consist of both glabrous and hairy material (see above), so attesting to variability found in the species.

Description. —Large perennial shrubs to medium-sized trees, sparsely branched, with haphazardly rounded canopies, robust succulent, to 3.0(–6.0) m tall. Stem simple lower down, branched from ± 0.5–1.0 m above the ground, thick, to 150 mm in diameter, ± straight or variously curved, surface prominently covered by sharp projections left by expanding, prominent leaf scars; bark light brownish grey, flaking, flimsy. Leaves few tO many tOwardS terminal ½–⅓ of branches, shed lower down to yield leaf scars, erect to variously curved, succulent, densely to sparsely pubescent to more rarely glabrous, petiolate, ± flattened above and below, dull yellowish green to glaucous; petiole 40–100 mm long, same colour as leaf blade, succulent; blade 60–450 × 70–350 mm, somewhat elongated-triangular, deltoid to peltate, irregularly folded lengthwise and in width, succulent; base flared down- and upwards beyond point of attachment of petiole, rarely somewhat cuneate; apex rounded-obtuse or truncate; margins irregularly toothed. Inflorescence an axillary, densely branched, many-flowered panicle, up to 0.8 m long, rounded, erect to gracefully curved sideways and upwards; pedicels 5–12 mm long, generally densely pubescent. Flowers ± erect or slanted in various directions, generally densely pubescent, subtended by prominent bracts that are soon shed; calyx consisting of four sepals; sepals 5–7 mm long, light greenish white, very lightly infused with purple, especially towards tip, with or without faint longitudinal reddish purple stripes, elongated-triangular, fused below for ± 2 mm, acute-tipped, obscuring the corolla tube; corolla tube 6–7 mm long, with obscure reddish purple stripes, more or less quadrangular-urceolate, tapering to the mouth, 4-angled; corolla lobes 3 × 4 mm, creamy to greenish pink to pale yellow to yellowish green with prominent longitudinal reddish purple stripes, deltoid, strongly recurved, apiculate. Stamens inserted in the middle of the corolla tube or higher up, exserted for 1–2 mm; filaments ± 5 mm long, thin, light greenish white; anthers 0.5–1.0 mm long, yellow, exserted. Pistil consisting of 4 carpels; carpels 3–4 mm long, light yellowish green; styles 7–9 mm long; stigmas light brownish yellow, very slightly capitate; scales ± 3× 1 mm, rectangular, connate, truncate above, slightly apiculate. Follicles 6–7 mm long, dark brownish black, brittle, grass spikelet-like when dry, enveloped in dry, greyish black remains of corolla. Seed 0.75–1.00 mm long, dark brown to black, rectangular to slightly banana-shapecurved, tapering to both ends. Chromosome number: n = 18 ( Baldwin 1938: 576, Uhl 1948: 700, Friedmann 1971: 105, Rabakonandrianina & Carr 1987: 124, Smith 2022f: 161, 172–173).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Plants of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana in the horticultural trade sometimes referred to as “var. feuerblüte Hort.”, have brilliant red flowers borne on firm, erect peduncles. Jacobsen (1954: 819, 1986: 609) speculates that it might be a hybrid between K. blossfeldiana and K. glaucescens (Britten 1871: 393). One of the earliest-documented, artificially produced hybrids between representatives of K. subg. Kalanchoe and K. subg. Bryophyllum, i.e., across subgenus boundaries, were recorded by Resende (1956: 241–242) when he produced hybrids between K. blossfeldiana “var. feuerblüte Hort.” [included in K. subg. Kalanchoe] and K. daigremontiana Raymond-Hamet & Perrier de la Bâthie (1914: 128) [included in K. subg. Bryophyllum]. Photograph: Gideon F. Smith.