Species · genus Kalanchoe · Crassulaceae

Milky Widow's Thrill

Kalanchoe laxiflora Baker

Growth habit

succulent subshrub

Native range

Madagascar

Kalanchoe laxiflora — reference photo — no rights reserved · CC0

Cultivars of K. laxiflora

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under K. laxiflora yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

A Madagascan Succulent Shrub

Kalanchoe laxiflora is a succulent subshrub in the Crassulaceae family, also known under the older name Bryophyllum crenatum. It belongs to a genus whose members range from annuals to shrubs and trees, all sharing fleshy foliage and tubular, four-lobed flowers.

Source: RHS

Native to Madagascar

This plant's natural home is east-central Madagascar, where it grows in desert and dry shrubland settings. It was first described by Baker in 1887, and it has since spread beyond its native range, becoming established in places such as Réunion, Mauritius, Hawaii, Morocco, and parts of the Mediterranean.

Source: Kew

Succulent Subshrub Habit

As a succulent subshrub, Kalanchoe laxiflora carries the fleshy, water-storing character typical of its genus. Its wider family, Crassulaceae, is defined by this same succulence, paired here with the loosely arranged flower habit that gives the species its name, laxiflora.

Source: Kew

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 10-21d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Direct sun

Water

≈ every 21 days

Humidity

Low — average room

Temperature

13–27 °C

Soil mix

Gritty, fast-draining cactus and succulent mix

Propagation

Leaf-tip plantlets or stem cuttings root easily

Fertilizing

Dilute succulent feed monthly in the growing season

Growth rate

Moderate

Flowering

Coral bell-shaped blooms in late winter with bright light

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Toxic to cats & dogs

Kalanchoe (Crassulaceae) contains bufadienolide cardiac glycosides. This is where toxicity lives: every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 10-21d) · ai:claude-fable-5 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (family inference)

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Milky Widow's Thrill yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — and a clear photo of your plant are exactly what keep this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.