Species · genus Kalanchoe · Crassulaceae

Cathedral Bells

Kalanchoe pinnata (Lam.) Pers.

Also known as: Miracle Leaf · Airplant · Curtainplant · Floppers · Good-luck-leaf

Growth habit

succulent subshrub

Native range

Cook Is., Madagascar

Reference · K. pinnata

Cultivars of K. pinnata

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

No named cultivars catalogued under K. pinnata 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 pinnata is a succulent subshrub from Madagascar and the Cook Islands, storing water in its fleshy leaves and rotting quickly if kept wet. Plant it in gritty, fast-draining mix and water deeply only when the top two inches of soil are fully dry. It tolerates dry household air and wants a bright spot, ideally with some direct sun once acclimated.

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

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 21 days

Humidity

Low — average room

Temperature

13–29 °C

Soil mix

Gritty, fast-draining cactus and succulent mix

Propagation

Leaf-margin plantlets root wherever they land

Fertilizing

Dilute succulent feed monthly in the growing season

Growth rate

Fast

Flowering

Greenish-red hanging bells on tall stems when mature

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Toxic to cats & dogs & humans

Crassulaceae of the Kalanchoe genus contain 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.

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 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 Cathedral Bells 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.