The Easiest Plant in the World to Propagate

Kalanchoe: The Genus and Its Chromosomes

“…Kalanchoes are fairly popular, particularly as Christmas plants, and seem destined to become more so (Rowntree, 1936). They are easy to grow, one of them (K. Daigremontiana) being called II the easiest plant in the world to propagate" (Swingle, 1934). The most valuable horticultural representative of the group is K. Blossfeldiana (K. coccinea of the trade); II it may be grown readily from seed and if the seed is sown during January to March, the plants will begin to flower after one year, thus at a time when showy pot plants are scarce.…”

“…Also, the more or less shrubby Mexican species of Sedum belong to a highly evolved chromosomal system (Unpub.). K. beharensis and K. Hildebrandtii will attain heights of twenty feet (Hamet and Perrier, 1914;Swingle, 1931); probably no other members of the family grow nearly so tall. K. synsepala (2n = 72) is exceptional in its axillary peduncles and stolons.…”

Using the Kalanchoe daigremontiana Plant to Show the Effects of Photoperiodism on Plantlet Formation

“…First, it is a succulent plant with Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) (a mechanism that greatly reduces water loss during photosynthesis). It is also considered "the easiest plant in the world to propagate" (Swingle 1934) because it produces abundant plantlets in notches at the edges of its leaves. Eventually, these plantlets drop to the ground and form new plants.…”

“…Of course, those names are somewhat misleading because cloning is asexual. When devil's backbone does flower, it produces numerous seeds (Swingle 1934), but because it has an abundance of plantlets it is seldom grown from seed. Plantlet formation in devil's backbone is controlled by the photoperiod.…”