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Products > Kalanchoe bracteata forma glabra
 
Kalanchoe bracteata forma glabra - Green Teaspoons
   
Image of Kalanchoe bracteata forma glabra
 
Habit and Cultural Information
Category: Succulent
Family: Crassulaceae (Stonecrops)
Origin: Madagascar
Evergreen: Yes
Flower Color: Red
Bloomtime: Summer
Synonyms: [Kalanchoe bracteata ssp. glabra]
Height: 2-4 feet
Width: 2-4 feet
Exposure: Sun or Shade
Summer Dry: Yes
Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs
Winter Hardiness: 25-30° F
May be Poisonous  (More Info): Yes
Kalanchoe bracteata forma glabra (Green Teaspoons) A small compact shrubby succulent to 4 feet tall with 4 angled stems holding 1-inch-long ovate leaves on short petioles. The small red flowers on this plant appear in summer on a branched terminal inflorescences.

Plant in full sun to bright shade and irrigate little to occasionally. Has proven hardy to 28 F and may be hardy below this. This plant is great in pots or as an accent or even a small border hedge in the garden.

Kalanchoe bracteata comes from southeastern Madagascar and closely related and very similar to Kalanchoe hildebrandtii, which grows in the same local but has greenish-white flowers. This species is quite variable with the more common form in cultivation having more pointed leaves that are a grayish silvery-white color. The name Kalanchoe as described by the French botanist Michel Adanson in 1763 was an adaption of a name for a plant in the genus in a Chinese dialect, most likely a dialect of Hokkien, spoken by overseas Chinese in the Philippines in the late 1600s. The name came to Adason's attention through Georg Joseph Kamel (Camellus or Cameli), a Czechian botanist and Jesuit missionary in the Philippines. Kamel referred to this plant as "kalanchauhuy" in his writings with 'ka-lan' being a Buddhist term for the physical grounds, gardens, or groves of a temple combined with 'huy' meaning a "flower". The name for the genus Camellia also honors Kamel. Though it seems that the correct pronunciation of the genus should be kal-an-KOH-ee, there are some who pronounce it "kal-an-choe" with some claiming the former is the American pronunciation and the latter the British, while others point to the Chinese origin of the word and suggest it might be pronounced "ka-lan-choi". The specific epithet "bracteata" is in reference to the conspicuous floral bracts of this species.

The name Kalanchoe bracteata ssp. glabra was published by Werner Rauh and Rene Hebding in the 1997 issue of Bradleya the yearbook of the British Cactus and Succulent Society (15:5) but more recent texts synonymize it with the species because of the continuous variation of the species encountered in nature. Since this plant is quite distinct from the gray leafed form we also grow and list as Kalanchoe bracteata, we list this greener plant we have grown since 2016 as Kalanchoe bracteata "forma glabra". 

Information displayed on this page about Kalanchoe bracteata forma glabra is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will 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.

 
San Marcos Growers closed for regular business at the end of 2025 as the property is being developed for affordable housing.
While our gates remain closed, we will open them by appointment so we can liquidate remaining plants, supplies and equipment. The plants remaining in the field are listed on our Live Inventory Page.
 
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