Bryophyllum gastonis-bonnieri (Hamet & Perrier) Lauzac-Marchal, Crassulaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Kalanchoë gastonis-bonnieri Hamet & Perr.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: donkey ears, palm beachbells

Habit:  shrub

Description:  "Shrub 50-60 cm high, stem robust, 12 mm diameter below, 7 mm diameter toward the apex, internodes 2-11.5 cm long; leaves decussate, broadly amplexicaul and passing into the blade and there entire, this part 3.5-6 cm long, 17 mm wide, the leaf-blade ovate-lanceolate, 13.5-16.5 cm long, 47-55 mm wide, rounded above, leaf margins coarsely roundish-crenate, surface whitish to mealy pruinose; inflorescence terminal, producing a corymb 28 cm high, 15 cm broad, pedicels glabrous, 10 mm long, calyx glabrous, campanulate, 13-15 mm long, lobes triangular, corolla-tube longer than the calyx, pale pink" (Jacobsen, 1960; p. 648).

Habitat/ecology:  Light shade to full sun.  Hardiness: above 4.5° C (40° F) (Dave's garden).

Propagation:  Seed. Plant is viviparous (Dave's garden).

Native range:  Madagascar(?) (Jacobsen, 1960; p. 648).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
Marshall Islands Ratak Chain	Majuro (Mãjro) Atoll	introduced cultivated	Vander Velde, Nancy (2003) (p. 86)

Comments:  Reported as possibly an invasive plant in the Galápagos Islands per Charles Darwin Research Station. Other Bryophyllums are also invasive.

Additional information:  Additional online information about Bryophyllum gastonis-bonnieri is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Taxonomic information about Bryophyllum gastonis-bonnieri may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

Jacobsen, Hermann. 1960. A handbook of succulent plants: descriptions, synonyms and cultural details for succulents other than Cactaceae. Blandford Press, London.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Vander Velde, Nancy. 2003. The vascular plants of Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands. Smithsonian Institution, Atoll Research Bulletin No. 503:1-141.