Kalanchoe luciae
| Light | Bright light to full sun; the more light (short of scorch), the redder the leaf margins |
|---|---|
| Water | Sparingly; let the soil dry fully between waterings, keep drier in winter |
| Soil | Fast-draining gritty mix (see Soil and potting mix) |
| Temperature | Best above freezing; tolerates light frost but not hard freezes (USDA zones 9b–11) |
| Propagation | Leaf and stem cuttings, offsets, and seed |
| Toxicity | Toxic to cats, dogs and horses if eaten (like most Kalanchoe) |
Kalanchoe luciae is a rosette-forming succulent from southern Africa, grown for its large, flat, rounded leaves that stack in overlapping tiers and flush vivid red along the edges in cool, bright conditions. Its shape has earned it the common names paddle plant and flapjacks, and a well-coloured specimen — grey-green leaves rimmed and washed in crimson — is one of the most striking sights in a sunny succulent collection.
Description
Kalanchoe luciae grows as a stout rosette of large, obovate to rounded leaves arranged in opposite pairs, each pair set at right angles to the one below so the plant reads as a stack of paddles. The leaves are thick, smooth and often dusted with a pale, powdery farina that rubs off to the touch. In shade they stay a plain blue-green; under strong light and cool nights the margins and upper faces blush deep red to burgundy, which is the whole point of growing the plant.
A rosette that reaches maturity sends up a tall, stout flowering stalk bearing small, tubular, pale yellow to greenish flowers with a mealy coating. As in most rosette succulents that flower from the centre, that individual rosette is monocarpic — it dies back after seeding — but it usually leaves a ring of offsets behind to carry on.
K. luciae is frequently confused with Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, the true "desert cabbage." The two look alike, but K. thyrsiflora is more heavily farinose, tends toward tighter yellow-green colouring, and bears fragrant bright-yellow flowers; much of what is sold in nurseries as K. thyrsiflora is in fact K. luciae.
Distribution and habitat
The species is native to southern Africa, ranging across north-eastern South Africa, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. It grows on rocky outcrops, slopes and grassland, rooting in gritty, well-drained ground and enduring a strongly seasonal climate of summer rain and dry, sometimes chilly winters — the very conditions that bring out its red colouring.
Cultivation
Kalanchoe luciae is one of the easier large succulents to grow and forgiving of neglect, but its looks depend heavily on light. Give it the brightest spot you can, up to full sun once acclimatised; too little light leaves the leaves flat green, floppy and stretched, with no red at all. Cool nights combined with strong light and slightly lean, dry conditions produce the most intense colour, which is why the plant often looks its best in autumn and winter.
Grow it in a free-draining, mostly mineral mix and water only when the soil has dried right through; the thick leaves store plenty of moisture, and overwatering — especially in cold weather — is the main cause of rot. It is not frost-hardy in any real sense: it may shrug off a light touch of frost but will collapse in a hard freeze, so in cold climates grow it in a pot that can move under cover or indoors to a bright window. See Watering and Repotting for general technique. Because each rosette dies after flowering, many growers remove the emerging bloom spike if they would rather keep a tidy clump of foliage than let it seed.
Propagation
K. luciae propagates very easily. The simplest routes are offsets pulled from around the base of an established or spent rosette, and stem and leaf cuttings — a whole leaf laid on gritty mix will often strike, and a beheaded rosette roots readily once its cut end has callused for a day or two. It also comes true from seed, which the dust-fine seed produces in quantity after flowering. See the linked guides for step-by-step method.
Common problems
- No red colour / stretching — the usual complaint, and almost always too little light; move the plant somewhere much brighter and expect colour to build over weeks, not days.
- Rot — soft, blackening leaves or a collapsing base from overwatering or a cold, wet mix; water less and improve drainage.
- Loss of bloom — powdery farina on the leaves is easily wiped off by handling and does not grow back on that leaf, so pick the plant up by the pot.
- Pests — mealybugs (white fluff tucked into the leaf axils) and occasionally aphids on the flower stalk are the main nuisances. See Pests and diseases.
See also
- Kalanchoe — the genus overview
- Kalanchoe thyrsiflora — the similar, often-confused relative
- Propagation — cuttings · Propagation — offsets · Soil and potting mix · Watering