Bryophyllum

(Bryophyl'lum)

DESCRIPTION: These are tender, succulent plants that have stiff, straight, rounded stems ranging in height from 3 to 10 feet. They are clothed with fleshy, green, ovate, oblong or lance-shaped leaves with wavy margins. Their flowers are greenish-white or red and they daintily hang from atop the stems. These plants are natives of Asia and tropical and South Africa. The flowers are usually not very conspicuous, as these plants are mainly cultivated for their foliage. B. Daigremontianum has maroon speckled leaves and pink flowers. B. verticillatum (tubiflorum) has thin leaves blotched with purple and pink flowers.

POTTING: The minimum indoor temperature must be 45 degrees. They should be planted in a soil mixture of two parts sandy loam and one part each of sand and crushed brick. Repotting can be done anytime from March to August. This plant needs a rather dry atmosphere and complete exposure to sunlight. Throughout the summer, the soil should be kept moist, but in the winter, very little water is needed. They may be grown outside where there is no danger of frost.

PROPAGATION: The leaves can be placed on moist soil or sand; young plants that form around the edges can be planted. Another method is to take shoots, 3 inches long, and insert them in pots filled with sand or sandy soil in the greenhouse or window garden in the summer.

VARIETIES: B. pinnatum; B. Daigremontianum; B. verticillatum (tubiflorum); B. crenatum.

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