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Products > Kalanchoe thyrsiflora 'Silver Platter'
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| Category: Succulent |
| Family: Crassulaceae (Stonecrops) |
| Origin: South Africa (Africa) |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Flower Color: Yellow |
| Bloomtime: Summer |
| Fragrant Flowers: Yes |
| Synonyms: [Kalanchoe tetraphylla, Hort] |
| Height: 1 foot |
| Width: <1 foot |
| Exposure: Sun or Shade |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 25-30° F |
| May be Poisonous (More Info): Yes |
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Kalanchoe thyrsiflora 'Silver Platter' - A low growing succulent shrub to 18 inches tall with broad rounded chalky-gray leaves and spikes of dark yellow fragrant flowers. Plant in full sun in a well-drained soil and irrigate occasionally to very little. This plant comes from rocky ground in open bushland in northern Kwazulu-Natal in South Africa. This is the true Kalanchoe thyrsiflora - In the March-April 2001 issue of the Journal of the Cactus and Succulent Society of America, John Trager, the Huntington Botanic Garden Desert Garden Curator, writes "the plant commonly distributed under this name [Kalanchoe thyrsiflora], sometimes with the whimsical common name - coined by one enterprising nurseryman - of "flipping flapjacks" is in fact the related K. luciae ssp. luciae. Both species bear the fleshy, paddle-like, obovate leaves to which the common name refers. Those of K. luciae blush deep red, especially with cool winter temperatures. Those of K. thyrsiflora are more uniform chalky green or white, covered with a thick flour-like coating of wax. The flowers of the two species also differ. Those of K. luciae are not strongly scented and have an urnceolate flower tube with pale-yellow lanceolate corolla lobes. Those of K. thyrsiflora are heavily sweet scented with a cylindric flower tube and brilliant yellow broadly obovate lobes." Our stock plant of Kalanchoe thyrsiflora came to us from Brian Kemble, Curator of the Ruth Bancroft Garden. In the most recent treatment of this plant on The Plant List (in May 2018), the name Kalanchoe thyrsiflora is noted as a synonym for Kalanchoe tetraphylla but we believe this is incorrect. We also note that on the Missouri Botanic Garden (MOBOT) Tropico database it correctly notes that Kalanchoe tetraphylla and Kalanchoe thyrsiflora are separate taxon. This is interesting as MOBOT is a partner with the Royal Botanic Garden Kew on The Plant List. Bernard Descoings' treatment in The The Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Crassulaceae(2003), list both species separately as well and makes the note that Kalanchoe tetraphylla is "a very rare species closely related to K. synsepala. They form a small group distinct from all other species of the genus by their habit, their growth form and additional characters." Unfortunately many online sources have followed this mistaken synonymy and also missed the misidentification of Kalanchoe luciae, so often the common "Paddle Plant" is even listed under the incorrect name Kalanchoe tetraphylla. We do not grow Kalanchoe tetraphylla but have it in our collection and have information and a picture of it on our website at Kalanchoe tetraphylla. While we consider Kalanchoe thyrsiflora to be very nice succulent for collectors, Kalanchoe luciae (even when it is mistakenly called by other names) is the more reliable and popular plant and for this reason we discontinued production of "true" K. thyrsiflora in 2013.
The information displayed on this page about Kalanchoe thyrsiflora 'Silver Platter' is based on our research conducted about this plant from books in our nursery library as well as from information that is provided by reliable online resources. We also have included our own observations made about it as it grew in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers when we had them in our nursery field. We also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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