Kalanchoe torrejacqii Shtein & Gideon F.Sm., 2021

Shtein, Ronen & Smith, Gideon F., 2021, Kalanchoe torrejacqii (Crassulaceae subfam. Kalanchooideae), a new species in K. subg. Bryophyllum from the Namorona River valley, Madagascar, Phytotaxa 498 (3), pp. 205-212 : 206-208

Kalanchoe torrejacqii Shtein & Gideon F.Sm. sp. nov. ( Figs 1 , 2 ).

Type:— MADAGASCAR. Vatovavy-Fitovinany region , Namorona River valley , along the north side of the road RN 25, about 6 km west of Ranomafana , just east of Vorondolo, southeastern Madagascar, in shade at the bottom of a cliff over which water flowed, collected on 26 June 2011 by Aldo Torrebruno & Joël Jacq s.n., plants cultivated in Israel and prepared on 20 April 2020, R . Shtein 580 [ TELA904 ] (holotype TELA); R . Shtein 580 [ TELA905 , TELA921 ] (isotypes TELA) .

Diagnosis:— Kalanchoe torrejacqii differs from all other representatives of K. subg. Bryophyllum by having mostly erect, suffrutescent stems; by having induced-bulbiliferous leaves that are narrowly ovate-elliptic to oblong, distinctly truncate and often shallowly auriculate basally; by the corolla being predominantly pink, indistinctly short-stipitate, and 2.5× longer than the calyx; by the free sepal segments being as long as wide or wider; by the calyx tube being only slightly longer than wide; and by having nectar scales that are somewhat wider than long.

Description:— Plants perennial, entirely glabrous, sometimes slightly glaucescent throughout (in direct sun), often branched, basally generally erect to decumbent, about 0.6–0.8 m tall when in flower. Stem 5.0– 7.5 mm in diam., 3–5 mm towards inflorescence, suffrutescent, green to brown basally, purple in distal half, cylindrical, often developing aerial roots; leaf scars rounded-crescentiform, conspicuous, slightly protruding, not connate; internodes 1.0– 2.5 cm long. Leaves opposite, decussate, distinctly petiolate, succulent, sometimes trilobate; petiole 0.8–2.5 cm long, 3 mm in diameter, cylindrical, slender, sometimes slightly widened distally, green to purple; blade 3.6–5.5 × 2.2–3.5 cm, uniformly green to green-brown, narrowly ovate-elliptic to oblong, ± flat, often slightly concave above and convex below, not guttered, abaxial surface indistinctly coloured, widest basally or rarely medially, if lobed, lobes obtuse and shallow; margins green to green-brown, subentire to entirely irregularly bluntly crenate-serrate, blotched red to dark purple between crenations, within blotches marked by pale organogenic and/or embryogenic notches prior to bulbil production or bulbils proper; crenations 0.5–3 × 3–7 mm, increasing in width medially, increasing in acuity and frequency basally and apically, blunt to indistinct; bulbil production stress-induced, possible at each marginal leaf notch, but most common in apical ½; base ± truncate, proximal end entire, sometimes broadly auriculate, auricules absent or shallow, <1 mm long; apex obtuse to rounded. Inflorescence a corymbiform cyme, not leafed at anthesis, non-bulbiliferous, i.e., does not form dense bulbil clusters, but may form few , large, discrete plantlets post-flowering, dense, terminal, 9–15 cm wide; peduncle single, cylindrical, 9–12 cm long, 3–5 mm in diameter, nodes few and long; peduncular bracts ± 2.5 × ± 1.5 cm, entire, petiolate, truncate, leaf-like, wilting soon; floral bracts ± 9 × ± 3 mm, sessile, attenuate, narrowly oblong, entire or few-dentate apically, wilting soon; pedicels 6–13 mm long, curved, cylindrical, tapering towards the flowers from 1.0– 1.8 mm to ± 0.5–0.7 mm in diam., purple. Flowers numerous, pendent, campanulate. Calyx 12–14 × 7–8 mm, green-grey to purple, free sepal segments especially infused with purple, succulent, thick, campanulate-urceolate, rarely slightly 4-angled, basally ± flat, widest in apical ¼ just above point of sepal fusion, then constricted where sepals fuse; tube 8–10 mm long; free sepal segments 4–5 mm long, widest at base at 5–6 mm, ovate to deltoid, apiculate, adpressed to corolla to slightly spreading. Corolla 31–34 mm long, uniformly vibrant pink, green where obscured by calyx, barely stipitate, stipe ± 0.5 × ± 2.5 mm; tube 23–25 mm long, especially basally ± 4-angled, basally adpressed around and above carpels, up to 5.5 mm wide, then diminishing to 3.0– 3.5 mm wide at its thinnest, then gradually inflating to base of petals where it is very slightly constricted at width of 6.0– 6.5 mm, widest in apical ⅓ at width of 6.5–7.0 mm; lobes 7.5–9.0 × 4–5 [at base] mm, widest at 5–6 mm at ⅓ from tip, oblong-obovate, apically rounded, very slightly apiculate, usually spreading. Stamens 8, inserted low down in corolla tube, at ± level of carpels, almost exserted, visible between, and reaching distal ⅓ of petals; filaments of two similar lengths, adpressed, protruding inside base of corolla, free for ± 20–23 mm, thin, dull green basally and apically, strongly infused with purple-pink elsewhere; anthers ± 0.8–1.2 × 1.0 mm, dark grey, ovate-cordate, ± as long as wide; pollen dark grey-violet. Pistil consisting of 4 carpels; carpels ± 6.5–7.5 × 2.0– 2.5 mm, convergent, fused at base, free above, uniformly dark green, narrowly ovate to almost conical, widest in lower ⅓, cuneate towards styles; styles ± 24–26 mm long, uniformly yellowish green; stigmas very minutely capitate, dark green; scales ± 2.0 × 2.5 mm, yellow-green, free, broadly trapezoidal, slightly wider than long, thickened basally, tapering apically in thickness and width, incurved, upper corners obtusely truncate-rounded. Follicles not seen. Seeds not seen. Chromosome number: 2 n = unknown.

Eponymy:— Kalanchoe torrejacqii jointly honours Aldo Torrebruno and Joël Jacq, both of France, who together discovered the species during a field trip through the Namorona River valley, in close proximity to the RN 25, west of Ranomafana, Madagascar ( Fig. 3 ).

Mr Joël Jacq (born 1948) is a self-taught horticulturalist who has been passionate about nature from an early age. His father was a meteorologist, and as a result of his assignments, the family lived in the tropics, mostly in West Africa, and sometimes in very remote areas for 18 years. With his three brothers he spent his childhood discovering the forests, the plains, and the rivers where his family was based. He collects orchids and tropical plants, many of them having been sourced during his travels. Now retired, his daughter, Hélène, is carrying on the family’s interest in nature.

Mr Aldo Torrebruno(born 1964) is a recently retired electrician who specialised in industrial facilities, transformers, and networks. He is the son and grandson of farmers and began collecting plants in 1983 when he experienced a lack of greenery in a new, urban-based life. After having collected Maranta Linnaeus (1753: 2 , arrowroot family), orchids, and cacti, he specialised in Sansevieria Thunberg (1794: 65) , nom. cons. He enjoys travelling and all his trips have a botanical goal, especially to explore for or research a plant that has not been collected for decades.

Messrs Torrebruno and Jacq have been friends with Mr Philippe Richaud, a cactus and succulent nurseryman in France, for over 25 years. Being aware of Mr Richaud’s passion for Kalanchoe and recognising that K. torrejacqii differs from K. laxiflora , material was later given to Mr Richaud as “ Kalanchoe sp. ”; Mr Richaud brought it to our attention for identification.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Kalanchoe torrejacqii (R. Shtein 580). A. Pink-flowered, terminal inflorescences. B. Basal leaves and suffrutescent stem. C. Apical leaves of a plant in vegetative growth. D. Minutely and broadly auriculate leaf blade base, lacking any crenation or dentation. Photographs: Ronen Shtein.

FIGURE 2. Kalanchoe torrejacqii (R. Shtein 580). Detail of the flowers and inflorescence.A. Deltoid-tipped buds. B. Flowers at anthesis, grown in full sun, showing the large corolla that dilates in the apical ¾. C. Inflorescences with some wilted flowers and peduncles that become devoid of bracts during anthesis. D–F. Details of a flower and the abaxial leaf blade surface, as well as a corolla, and pistil, respectively—all not to scale, grid segment in each element represents 5 mm. Photographs: Ronen Shtein.

FIGURE 3. The Namorona River valley in the vicinity of Vorondolo and the Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. The type locality of Kalanchoe torrejacqii is close by. Photographs: Joël Jacq.