Species · genus Kalanchoe · Crassulaceae

Paddle Plant

Kalanchoe luciae Raym.-Hamet

Also known as: Flapjacks · Flapjack Plant · Paddle Kalanchoe · Desert Cabbage · Red Pancakes · Dog Tongue Plant

Growth habit

succulent biennial

Native range

Eswatini, KwaZulu-Natal, Mozambique, Northern Provinces, Zimbabwe

Reference · K. luciae

Cultivars of K. luciae

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

No named cultivars catalogued under K. luciae 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.

Kalanchoe luciae is a succulent biennial from the seasonally dry grasslands and rocky slopes of southern Africa, storing water in its thick paddle-shaped leaves. Give it bright light or some direct sun and gritty, fast-draining mix, and water deeply only once the soil has dried out completely — when the top several centimetres are dry and the leaves are firm, not plump. It rots quickly if left sitting in moisture, so err toward keeping it dry.

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 14-28d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Direct sun

Water

≈ every 28 days

Humidity

Low — average room

Temperature

10–27 °C

Soil mix

Gritty, fast-draining cactus and succulent mix

Propagation

Leaf cuttings or offsets rooted in dry mix

Fertilizing

Light succulent feed a few times in spring and summer

Growth rate

Moderate

Flowering

Tall pale flower spike after several years, then rosette dies back

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Toxic to cats & dogs

Kalanchoe (Crassulaceae) contains bufadienolide cardiac glycosides toxic to pets. 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.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 14-28d) · ai:claude-fable-5 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (family inference)

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Paddle Plant yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.