Kalanchoe Devil Plant

Plantlets cover the sides of Devil's Backbone.

Kalanchoe daigremontiana, or Devil's Backbone, is a plant with leaves that look like sharp Moorish-style doorway arches. Because of its easy care and exotic look, it is well-known as an indoor ornamental plant or as a border garden filler. Ideal for a hanging basket or a windowsill, the Devil's Backbone is almost maintenance-free and can add attitude to your home or garden.

Features

Kalanchoe daigremontiana is a flowering angiosperm in the family of Crassulaceae. It is a succulent, which means it retains a lot of water in its leaves and can survive in very sandy or rocky soil. Devil's Backbone prefers full sun to partial shade and is a stable, long-lasting choice for edging or covering ground space in the garden. The leaves are thick and green, with purple splotches underneath. Multiple spear-shaped plantlets form along the leaves' perimeter to provide the plant opportunities to propagate itself. These plantlets drop off with agitation or age and populate the soil nearby very quickly. For this reason, it is considered an invasive species in the United States.

Size

Devil's Backbone can reach a height of 3 feet, with an impressive 3- to 4-foot spread. Leaves range from 4 to 10 inches long and 1 to 3 inches wide. When flowering, the central stalk elongates and can reach a height from 30 to 50 inches.

Geography

Devil's Backbone is a native to Madagascar and was first introduced into the United States in 1928 by Charles Swingle, a researcher with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It can now be found as an introduced invasive species in the Caribbean territories, Australia, South Africa and Hawaii.

Propagation

According to Dale T. Lindgren from the University of Nebraska's Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, the Devil's Backbone can be propagated using a clean, diagonally cut stem clipping from just under the base of a leaf joint. The clipping should be from 3 to 5 inches long and left to root in a medium of water, sand, perlite or vermiculite before set into new soil.

Warning

Derek B. Munro of the Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre in Ottawa states that Devil's Backbone contains the cardiac glycoside daigremontianum, which has caused toxicity and deaths in chicks and mice during experiments. Common symptoms of poisoning include rapid and labored breathing, muscle twitching, convulsions and paralysis. The plantlets on the edges of a plant's main leaves have a tendency to fall off and collect around the base. For this reason, pets and children playing around its vicinity should be kept at a distance.

References

• "Science Activities"; Using the Kalanchoe Daigremontiana Plant to Show the Effects of Photoperiodism on Plantlet Formation; David Hershey; June 2002
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System: Kalanchoe daigremontiana
• Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources: Propagating House Plants
• Notes on Poisoning: Devil's Backbone

Resources

• GardeningEu: Devil's Backbone-Kalanchoe daigremontiana