Bryophyllum pinnatum
Kalanchoe pinnata Panel from the description as Bryophyllum calycinum of 1805 by Richard Anthony Salisbury.
Kalanchoe pinnata is a species of the genus Kalanchoe in the family Crassulaceae ( Crassulaceae ). The so-called Goethe- plant is often confused with Kalanchoe daigremontiana.
Description
This vigorous, mostly erect, often branched, perennial, succulent plant reaches heights of growth of 0.3 up to 2 meters. The opposite, stalked leaves are succulent, leathery, fleshy, 5-20 cm long and 2.5 to 12 cm wide; the bottom are simple and ovate, the upper ones are pinnate and up to 13 inches long. Are often formed leaf buds at the indentations of the notched up serrated edges. The petiole is 2 to 10 cm long.
Are formed axillary inflorescences Rispige. The flower stalk has a length of 10 to 25 mm. The stalked, drooping, large flowers are hermaphroditic and fünfzählig. The four smooth, green to red or red - purple stripes provided sepals are fused into a calyx tube with a length of 2.1 to 3 cm and a diameter of 0.6 to 1.2 cm; this ends in triangular calyx lobes. The four smooth, red or purple petals are fused bell-shaped, 3.4 to 5.4 cm long and 0.4 to 0.7 cm wide. There are two circles, each with four stamens present. The 2 to 4.5 mm long stamens are fused with the lower quarter of the corolla tube. The four 6 to 12 mm long carpels are fused only at their base. Four pens have a length of 2 to 3.5 cm. The Nektarschüppchen have a length from 1.5 to 2.6 mm and a width of 1 to 1.8 mm.
The flower four follicles are formed; they have a length of 10 to 14 mm, are encased by the paper-like cup and contain many seeds. The tiny ovoid seeds have a length of 0.8 to 1.2 mm and a diameter of 0.2 to 0.35 mm.
Distribution, chromosome number and systematics
The natural range of Kalanchoe pinnata is Madagascar. This species is wild in the tropical areas of Africa, Asia and America.
The chromosome number.
A first description was in 1782 as Crassula pinnata by the son of Carl von Linné. Jean -Baptiste de Lamarck ordered the way as Cotyledon pinnata the genus Cotyledon. Christian Hendrik Persoon in 1805 she put under her present name in the genus Kalanchoe.
There are numerous synonyms. The most important of these is the made 1805 Description of Bryophyllum calycinum by Richard Anthony Salisbury. The same set up by him genus Bryophyllum is now a section of the genus Kalanchoe. Another synonym is Bryophyllum pinnatum.
The " Goethe- plant"
The first, in 1814 under the name of Bryophyllum calycinum after Germany introduced, copy came from the Botanic Gardens Kew and was grown in the Botanical Garden Hannover. 1817 was the Botanical Gardens Belvedere in Weimar, one of these copies. A little later watched Johann Wolfgang von Goethe there, like little plant grew on the leaf margins of the mother plant. Of fascinated Goethe started breeding, and the study of this plant.
The President of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Goethe Esenbeck asked to write an academic paper for the Nova Acta Physico - Media Academiae. Goethe made , using the representation of the plant in William Curtis Botanical Magazine, in September 1820 a first draft of which was not published. Also, a second manuscript from March 1826 remained stuck in the draft. In Goethe 's lifetime only small, fragmentary notes were published by him about the plant.
The Bryophyllum calycinum also had influence on Goethe's poetry. So he wrote about the plant, for example, the poem with a sheet of Bryophyllum calycinum. The poem was part of a letter Goethe April 19, 1830 by Marianne Willemer, which also includes a copy of the plant breeding leaf was enclosed.
Medical use
For decades Kalanchoe pinnata in anthroposophic medicine for labor inhibition ( tocolysis ) is employed. Numerous other positive properties are described, such as the effectiveness in leishmaniasis, jaundice ( hepatitis), high blood pressure ( arterial hypertension ) and in wound healing. Kalanchoe pinnata is therefore long been used in traditional medicine in Africa, India, China and Australia. In addition, anti-diabetic, anti-bacterial, immunosuppressive, anti-mutagenic effects against tumors and are described, some of which, however, are still the subject of experimental studies.