Kalanchoe tomentosa Baker (1882: 110)

Smith, Gideon F., 2023, Taxonomy and nomenclature of Kalanchoe tomentosa (Crassulaceae subfam. Kalanchooideae), a variable, completely hairy species from Madagascar, Phytotaxa 609 (4), pp. 289-300 : 292-295

Kalanchoe tomentosa Baker (1882: 110) ( Figs 1C & 1D )

Also treated in:— Baillon (1885: 468); Hamet (1908: 31); Raymond-Hamet & Perrier de la Bâthie (1915: 102); Raymond-Hamet & Marnier-Lapostolle (1964: 37, Planche XI, Figures 29–30, Planche XII, Figure 31); Maire (1977: 253); Jacobsen (1954: 853–854, Abb. 357, 796); Jacobsen (1977: 290, Plate 106, Figure 1 ); Jacobsen (1986: 631, Figures 414 and 894); Boiteau & Allorge-Boiteau (1995: 166); Rauh (1995: 92, 93, Figure 223, 116, 219, Figures 609–610, 220, Figures 611–617); Brickell (1998: 578); Brickell (2003: 594); Bryant et al. (2005: 741); Descoings (2003: 178); Smith et al. (2019: 299, Figures 12.30.1–12.30.10).

Type:— MADAGASCAR. Central Madagascar , chiefly in Betsileo-land, recd. July 1880, [ R.] Baron 247 (holotype K barcode K001040417 !, [image available at http://specimens.kew.org/herbarium/ K001040417 ; not yet online] ( Fig. 2 ); isotype P barcode P00374199 ! [image available at http://coldb.mnhn.fr/catalognumber/mnhn/p/p00374199]) .

Epitype:— MADAGASCAR. Central Madagascar. Received Nov.1885. [ R.] Baron 3560 ( K barcode K000232863 !, [image available at http://specimens.kew.org/herbarium/ K000232863 ]) ( Fig. 3 ), here designated as epitype .

Nom. utique rej. prop.:— Bryophyllum triangulare Blanco (1845: 221) . (So proposed by Smith 2023: 435–436, under Turland et al. 2018: Art. 56).

Blanco (1845: 221) provided the following description for what is today known as K. tomentosa : “ BRYOPHYLLUM TRIANGULARE . BRIOFILO TRIANGULAR. Hojas sesiles, opuestas, muy carnosas, lanceoladas, y de tres ángulos como de figura de bayoneta, enterisimas. Cal. como en la especie anterior. Cor. muy larga, con cuatro ángulos, y el limbo con cuatro lacinias. Éstam. ocho: los cuatro, mas altos que los otros. Gérmen con cuatro lóbulos. Estigmas globosos. Nect. cuatro glándulas en la base del gérmen. Espec. nueva.” [English: “ Bryophyllum triangulare . Triangular bryophyllum. Leaves sessile, opposite, very fleshy, lanceolate, with three angles like the shape of a bayonet, entire. Calyx as in preceding species [ Bryophyllum serratum Blanco (1845: 220) , where the calyx is described as: “Cal. muy corto, hendido muy profundamente en cuatro partes.” [English: Calyx very short, very deeply divided into four parts.]]. Corolla very long, with four angles, the limb divided into four lobes. Stamens eight, four longer than the others. Ovary with four lobes. Stigmas globose. Nectar glands four at the base of the ovary. New spec.”].

The name B. triangulare , which applies to material at present known as K. tomentosa , predates the latter by 37 years and, under Turland et al. (2018: Art. 11.4), the epithet ‘ triangulare ’ should have been adopted by Baker (1882: 110) when the species is included in Kalanchoe . However, the name B. triangulare has been proposed for rejection ( Turland et al. 2018: Art. 56) (see Smith 2023: 435–436).

Earlier, Blanco (1837: 382–383) provided exactly the same description for Cotyledon lanceolata Blanco (1837: 382) , with the sole exception that “otros” was given as “otro” in the 1837 work. In Blanco (1837: 383) the following note was provided: “ Nota. Difiere de aquella especie, en que no tiene aserraduras en el apice de la hoja. He visto toda via otra especie con las hojas ternadas y carnosas.” [English: “Note. It differs from that species [ Cotyledon serrata Blanco (1837: 382) ] in that it does not have serrations at the apex of the leaf. I have seen yet another species with ternate and fleshy leaves.”] However, the name Cotyledon lanceolata published by Blanco (1837: 382) was preceded by C. lanceolata Forsskål (1775 : CXI & 89) and the former is therefore an illegitimate later homonym ( Turland et al. 2018: Art. 53.1).

Merrill (1905, 1918, 1923) provide additional information on the identification of the species described in Blanco (1837, 1845) as well as in the further work based on Blanco’s Flora de Filipinas published under the name of Fernández-Villar (1880), 35 years after Blanco (1778–1845) died.

Nomenclature notes:—The only collection cited by Baker (1882: 110) in the protologue of the name K. tomentosa is “ Baron 247!”, which originated from “Central Madagascar”. The specimen K001040417 [http://specimens.kew.org/ herbarium/K001040417; not yet online] held at Herb. K carries a label stating: “ MADAGASCAR: chiefly Betsileo-land. Coll. Rev. R. Baron. Recd. July, 1880.”, and this is the holotype of the name K. tomentosa . It consists of two inflorescences and flower fragments ( Fig. 2 ).

Herb. P holds a specimen labelled “HERB. MUS. PARIS Kalanchoe tomentosa Bak. 247 Baron Madagascar.” A smaller red-lettered label has “TYPE” printed on it, with “iso-” added to this label in ink. The specimen consists of a piece of an inflorescence that is enclosed in a small paper capsule attached to the specimen and is undated (see http:// coldb.mnhn.fr/catalognumber/mnhn/p/p00374199, P P00374199 ). This is a duplicate of the holotype and therefore indeed an isotype.

Hamet (1908: 31) stated: “[R. Baron, no 3560.—Echantillon authentique!]”, and also cited two further specimens, “[R. Baron, no 247]” and “[D. Cowan!]”. The specimen Baron 3560 (K K000232863) from Central Madagascar, received in November 1885, is databased and labelled as type at Herb. K, but it is not part of the original material as it was received on a later date. It cannot take precedence over R. Baron 247, which is the type collection. The reference by Hamet (1908: 31) to the specimen “R. Baron, no 3560” as the “Echantillon authentique!” of the name K. tomentosa has no nomenclatural standing as these two words are not equivalent to “ type ”; they only refer to a representative specimen and, in this case, additionally, not to the type material cited by Baker (1882: 110).

However, the specimen Baron 3560 (K K000232863) is a considerably more complete specimen and, unlike the holotype, consists of three leafy terminal stem segments, as well as two inflorescences ( Fig. 3 ). This specimen is here designated as epitype.

In the horticultural trade, K. tomentosa is often in error referred to as “ Kalanchoe pilosa [Hort.]”, a designation not validly published. This designation is not to be confused with K. pilosa Baker (1895: 107) , a validly published name based on material from Africa collected “[…] west of Lake Tanganyika […]” ( Baker 1895: 107), i.e., likely in the present-day Democratic Republic of Congo. The name K. pilosa (of Baker, not of “Hort.”) is, at present, generally included in the synonymy of K. lanceolata ( Forsskål 1775: CXI & 89) Persoon (1805: 446).

Amplified description:—Perennial, sparsely- to many-leaved, entirely hairy, sparsely branched, small to mediumsized, terrestrial, succulent shrub, to 1 m tall. Tomentum variable, usually dense, fine and short to coarse and quite long, erectly spreading, white, brown, or reddish brown. Aerial roots sometimes developing on stem and branches, hard, stiff. Stem branched, basally somewhat woody and in time covered in longitudinally flaking, yellowish bark, erect to arched to leaning, ± round in cross-section, scars of abscised leaves smooth, rather obscure. Leaves alternate, often appearing rosulate towards branch apex, sessile, dull light green, whitish green, dull bluish green, to mid- to dark green and golden yellow-infused, distinctly succulent, erect to erectly spreading; petiole absent, leaves not clasping the stem; blade 2.5–8.0 × 1.0– 2.5 cm, obovate, ovate, oblong, elongated-lanceolate or subcylindrical, concave above, convex below; base cuneate; margins often somewhat upcurved, entire but hairy, from ± mid-leaf to apex usually ± coarsely crenate with rounded, harmless, light to reddish to dark brown teeth, teeth rarely lacking; apex roundedobtuse, brown-tipped. Inflorescence variable in length, to 0.7 m long, erect to leaning, few- to many-flowered on few short branches, usually apically dense, corymbose; pedicels 5–10 mm long, slender. Flowers 8–16 mm long, erect to erectly spreading to spreading, hairy throughout, weakly diurnal; calyx consisting of 4 sepals; sepals 3–7 × 1.0– 2.5 mm, yellowish brown to greenish, often somewhat purplish-infused along margins and at tip, ± deltoid to elongatedtriangular, ± separate, basally fused for ± 1 mm, obtuse-tipped; corolla tube 7–15 mm long, campanulate to sometimes very slightly urceolate, yellowish brown to greenish, often sometimes somewhat to strongly purple-infused; corolla lobes 3–6 × 4–8 mm, light to deep purple on greenish background, adaxially not hairy, velvety, deltoid to nearly round, erectly spreading to horizontally recurved, obtuse to slightly indented at tip, mucronate. Stamens in two whorls, one inserted low down at ± level of ovaries, the other in middle of corolla tube, included; filaments 3–4 mm long, conspicuously thickened below, thinner above, light green; anthers ± 1 mm long, yellow, ovate to hastate, visible at mouth. Pistil consisting of 4 carpels; carpels 6–11 mm long; styles 1.5–2.0 mm long; stigmas yellowish white, capitate; nectar scales square to vertically rectangular, ± 1–2 × 1–2 mm. Follicles (6–) 10–12 mm long, light to mid-green at first, later light brownish white, brittle, grass spikelet-like, for long tightly enveloped in dry remains of calyx. Seeds (0.75–)1.00–1.25(–1.50) mm long, light to dark reddish brown to dark brown to nearly black, cylindrical to bananashaped-curved to slightly to distinctly D-shaped, obscurely to distinctly longitudinally striped. Chromosome number: 2 n = 36 ( Baldwin 1938: 576 [in error as 2 n = 34], Uhl 1948: 701, Sharma & Ghosh 1967: 319, Smith 2022a: 162, 172).

Figures

FIGURE 1. A. Portrait of John Gilbert Baker (1834–1920) who published the name Kalanchoe tomentosa in 1882. Reproduced from Journal of Botany, British and Foreign. London, volume 39 (1901). Photograph: Berthold Carl Seemann. Public Domain. http://www.plantillustrations.org/illustration.php?id_illustration=176522. B. Portrait of Reverend Richard Baron (1847–1907) who collected the material on which Baker based the name K. tomentosa. Credit of the photograph is to Fiangonan’ I Jesoa Kristy Eto Madagasikara (FJKM), which is the lineal descendent of the London Missionary Society, Antananarivo, which employed Baron. Permission was granted to Dr Laurence J. Dorr by FJKM to disassemble a framed collection of photographs of 19th century missionaries to obtain individual portraits for use in Dorr (1997). Dr Dorr kindly supplied the image to the author of this paper. C. Kalanchoe tomentosa is a sparsely- to many-leaved, entirely hairy, sparsely branched, small to medium-sized, terrestrial, succulent shrub that can reach a height of about 1 m. Note the hard, stiff aerial roots that often develop on the stem and branches. D. The hairy flowers of K. tomentosa are borne erect to erectly spreading to spreading, and are hairy throughout. Flowers are campanulate to sometimes very slightly urceolate, yellowish brown to greenish and often sometimes purple-infused. The corolla lobes are light to deep purple on a greenish background, and adaxially velvety rather than hairy. Photographs C and D taken by Gideon F. Smith.

FIGURE 2. Holotype, [R.]Baron 247, K K001040417 [http://specimens.kew.org/herbarium/K001040417; not yet available online], of the name Kalanchoe tomentosa. “Central Madagascar, chiefly in Betsileo-land, recd. July 1880, [R.] Baron 247. Reproduced with the kind permission of the Director and the Board of Trustees, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

FIGURE 3. Epitype, [R.] Baron 3560, K K000232863 [http://specimens.kew.org/herbarium/K000232863], designated in this paper, in support of the holotype of the name Kalanchoe tomentosa. “Central Madagascar. Received Nov. 1885.” Reproduced with the kind permission of the Director and the Board of Trustees, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.