kalanchoe

Nov. 10th, 2021 08:01 am
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kalanchoe or kalanchöe or kalanchoë (kal-uhn-KOH-ee, kuh-LANG-koh-ee, KAL-uhn-choh) - n., any of several chiefly African and Asian succulent plants (genus Kalanchoe) of the stonecrop family, having mostly opposite leaves and branching clusters of flowers.


Many species are cultivated as an ornamental or in pots. The name arrived via New (that is, Scientific) Latin, from French, originally recorded by the 17th century naturalist Georg Joseph Kamel as kalanchauhuy, apparently from Cantonese gālàahm choi (Mandarin qiélán cài), Chinese name for K. ceratophylla and K. laciniata, literally Buddhist temple plant, where the gālàahm is from Sanskirt samghārāma (and yes, the choi as is the same as in bok choi, lit. white vegitable in Cantonese). Quite the journey there. K. tomentosa:

Kalanchoe tomentosa being fuzzy
Thanks, WikiMedia!

---L.

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