Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi var. boiteaui Gideon F.Sm.

Smith, Gideon F., 2024, Revisiting the nomenclature and taxonomy of the Malagasy Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi, and description of K. fedtschenkoi var. boiteaui (Crassulaceae subfam. Kalanchooideae), Phytotaxa 645 (2), pp. 99-119 : 108-111

Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi var. boiteaui Gideon F.Sm. , var. nov. ( Figs 3 and 4 ).

Type:— MADAGASCAR. Fianarantsoa province, Plateau de l’Isalo , 800–1000 m above sea level, “corolle rougeâtre (mélange de rouge et de jaune)” [English: “corolla reddish (mixture of red and yellow)”], 30 July 1928, J.- H. Humbert & W. T. Swingle 4954 bis (holotype Herb. P barcode P00431063 !; image of the specimen available at http://coldb.mnhn.fr/catalognumber/mnhn/p/p00431063) ( Fig. 6 ) .

Diagnosis:— Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi var. boiteaui differs from K. fedtschenkoi var. fedtschenkoi by its leaves being more densely arranged, also with age, and the leaves generally being smaller; by its peduncles often being slightly longer and often devoid of leaf-like bracts higher up; by its flowers being of a more reddish shade; and by the plant parts not being as prominently pruinose-waxy so yielding a more purplish to bluish glaucescent colour.

Description:— Leaves throughout densely arranged along stems and branches; blade 20–40 × 15–20(–30) mm. Peduncle to 25 cm long. Flowers to 24 mm long, reddish infused ( Fig. 7 ).

The other characters of K. fedtschenkoi var. boiteaui are similar to those of K. fedtschenkoi var. fedtschenkoi . Note though that the number of crenulations at the leaf apex—reportedly two only in the case of K. fedtschenkoi var. boiteaui and more in the case of K. fedtschenkoi var. fedtschenkoi (see Boiteau & Mannoni 1949c: 73–74, Boiteau & Allorge-Boiteau 1995: 105)—has not been found to be diagnostic for K. fedtschenkoi var. boiteaui . However, in some clones of K. fedtschenkoi var. boiteaui this character does hold true.

Designation not validly published:—“ Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi var. isalensis ” Boiteau & Mannoni (1949c: 73 [– 74]), nom. inval. ( Turland et al. 2018: Art. 39.1).

Additional material examined:—For the designation “ Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi var. isalensis ”, Boiteau & Mannoni (1949c: 74) cited the following two gatherings:

1. “ Centre: HUMBERT 4.954 bis, plateau de l’Isalo, sur grès, vers 800– 1.000 m.;

2. BOITEAU 2.038, même plante cultivée à Tananarive, floraison juillet”.

[English: “ Centre: HUMBERT 4.954 bis, Isalo plateau, on sandstone, from 800–1000 m; BOITEAU 2.038, same plant cultivated in Tananarive, flowering July.”] (see Baena et al. for the location of the various places).

1. The J.- H. Humbert & W. T. Swingle 4954 bis (Herb. P barcode P 00431063) specimen cited by Boiteau & Mannoni (1949c: 74) is the holotype of the name K. fedtschenkoi var. boiteaui . The French botanist, Jean-Henri Humbert (24 January 1887 – 20 October 1967) (see Smith & Figueiredo 2019b) jointly, with the celebrated U.S.A. agronomist and plant explorer, Walter Tennyson Swingle (8 January 1871 – 19 January 1952) (see Harris 2015), collected the material in Madagascar. Six years after this specimen was collected, Swingle (1934) had a paper published on “the easiest plant in the world to propagate”, with reference to K. daigremontiana Raymond-Hamet & Perrier de la Bâthie (1914: 128) , a species that Swingle undoubtedly also encountered, in the field or in cultivation, when visiting Madagascar in the late-1920s.

2. The specimen that Boiteau & Mannoni (1949c: 74) referenced as “BOITEAU 2.038”, i.e., [ P. L.] Boiteau 2038, is alternatively attributed to “ Jardin Botanique Tananarive 2038 ” (see Herb. P barcode P 00431061). However, on the label affixed to the specimen it is stated that it was: “Récoltée par H. Humbert ” [English: “Collected by [ J.-] H. Humbert ”]. An image of the specimen is available at http://coldb.mnhn.fr/catalognumber/mnhn/p/p00431061. On the collecting label this material collected by Humbert is described as “Fleur d’un beau rose lavé de jaune” [English: “Flower of a beautiful pink washed with yellow”]. The specimen was apparently collected in flower in February 1934 from near the type locality of K. fedtschenkoi var. boiteaui . However, note that February, i.e., late-summer in the southern hemisphere, is early in the season for K. fedtschenkoi to have been in flower. A plausible alternative explanation is that sterile material was collected in February 1934 by J.- H. Humbert , that this material was then cultivated in the Parc Botanique et Zoologique de Tsimbazaza, and collected, perhaps by Boiteau, for deposition in Herbs. P and TAN once it flowered in “Juil. 36”, i.e., July 1936, a further date provided at the bottom of the collecting label.

A duplicate of this specimen, collected from the same location is available (see Herb. P barcode P 00431062, http://coldb.mnhn.fr/catalognumber/mnhn/p/p00431062).

A further specimen of what is described here as K. fedtschenkoi var. boiteaui was collected by Bernard Marie Descoings (1931–2018) in 1958. Information associated with this specimen is:

MADAGASCAR. Fianarantsoa province.Ankazotsifantatra. “km 18, route d’Amanda le long de la vallée d’Ihosy vers l’Est” [English: “km 18, Amanda road along the Ihosy valley towards the East”], 17 July 1958, B. Descoings 3748, Herb. P barcode P 00431064, image of the specimen available at http://coldb.mnhn.fr/catalognumber/mnhn/p/ p00431064. The material is described as: “Fleur rose, calice rose, anthère noire, étamine à filet jaune” [English: “Pink flower, pink calyx, black anthers, stamen with yellow filament”].

Eponymy:—Pierre L. (“Rapierre”) Boiteau ( Fig. 8 ) (born 3 December 1911 [Cognac, Charente, France]; died 1 September 1980) ( Dorr 1997: 8, 47) had a background in horticulture, agronomy, and the administration of colonial botanical gardens. He spent from 1932 to 1947 in Madagascar, and was the Director of Parks and Gardens, Tananarive [now Antananarivo, the capital city of Madagascar], from 1935 to 1938 and Director of the Parc Botanique et Zoologique de Tsimbazaza ( PBZT) from 1935 to 1947 ( Dorr 1997: 47). Soon after his arrival in Madagascar he developed an interest in Kalanchoe and collected living material (for PBZT) and preserved specimens (for Herbs. P and TAN) of the genus, in the latter instance in at least some cases under the “ Jardin Botanique de Tananarive ” or “ Botanical Garden of Tananarive ” series ( Smith & Shtein 2022: 141). Boiteau was most active in work on Kalanchoe during the 1940s ( Boiteau 1947, Boiteau & Mannoni 1948a –d, 1949a–d, see also Smith 2023e: 15–19). He had been deceased for 15 years when Boiteau & Allorge-Boiteau (1995) was published ( Dorr 1998), with his daughter, Lucile Allorge-Boiteau as co-author ( Smith 2021b: 201).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Like Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi var. fedtschenkoi, K. fedtschenkoi var. boiteaui is also a low-growing shrub. Note the long peduncle that in this instance is largely devoid of leaf-like bracts. Photograph: Gideon F. Smith.

FIGURE 4. Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi var. boiteaui. A. Especially with age the stems and branches are largely leafless lower down. Plants usually have an overall purplish to bluish glaucescent colour. B. Leaf margins are irregularly toothed with coarse, acute or sub-acute crenations especially in the upper ½, and usually conspicuously reddish purple.C. The inflorescence is a terminal,apically branched, manyflowered, head-shaped corymb. D. Flowers are generally of a more reddish shade than those of the autonymic variety. All photographs by Gideon F. Smith.

FIGURE 6. Photograph of J.-H. Humbert & W.T. Swingle 4954 bis, the holotype of the name Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi var. boiteaui. The specimen is held in Herb. P and its barcode is P00431063. The label in the bottom left states: “corolle rougeâtre (mélange de rouge et de jaune)” [English: “corolla reddish (mixture of red and yellow)”]. Copyright of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (MNHN—Paris, France), and reproduced with their permission, which is gratefully acknowledged.

FIGURE 7. Comparison of the flowers of four variants of Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi. Flowers are pendent at anthesis, as shown in photograph A. A. Flowers in lateral view: Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi var. boiteaui (left), K. fedtschenkoi var. fedtschenkoi (two flowers in the middle), and K. fedtschenkoi var. fedtschenkoi ‘VaRIEgata’ (RIght).ThE lIght yEllOwIsh gREEn tO gREEnIsh tO pInkIsh pURplE, tUbUlaR calyx ObscUREs ⅔ tO ¾ Of thE lEngth Of thE cOROlla tUbE.A pURplIsh InfUsIOn, If pREsEnt, Is UsUally MORE pROMInEnt tOwaRds thE tIps Of thE sEpals. ThE cOROlla tubes of K. fedtschenkoi var. boiteaui (flower on the left) are of a more reddish shade. B. Frontal view of corolla mouths to show the colour of the adaxial corolla lobe surface.Sequence of material:K. fedtschenkoi var. boiteaui (left), K. fedtschenkoi var. fedtschenkoi (two flowers in the middle), and K. fedtschenkoi var. fedtschenkoi ‘Variegata’ (right). Both photographs by Gideon F. Smith.

FIGURE 8. Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi var. boiteaui is named for Pierre L. (“Rapierre”) Boiteau (1911–1980), who most actively studied the genus Kalanchoe during the 1940s. He had been deceased for 15 years when Boiteau & Allorge-Boiteau (1995) was published, with his daughter, Lucile Allorge-Boiteau, as co-author. Photograph © of Dr Laurence J. Dorr, U.S. National Herbarium, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, U.S.A., and reproduced here with his kind permission.