Kalanchoe subg. Kitchingia (Baker) Smith & Figueiredo (2018b: 169)

Smith, Gideon F., 2024, An alternative subgeneric classification of Kalanchoe (Crassulaceae subfam. Cotyledonoideae) globally: a nomenclatural and taxonomic review, with a new status for K. subg. Pubescentes, Phytotaxa 665 (3), pp. 201-220 : 210-211

B.4 Kalanchoe subg. Kitchingia (Baker) Smith & Figueiredo (2018b: 169) .

Basionym:— Kitchingia Baker (1881: 268) .

Type:— Kitchingia gracilipes Baker (1881: 268) (lectotype), designated by Smith & Figueiredo (2018b: 169), accepted name Kalanchoe gracilipes (Baker) Baillon (1885: 469) .

Homotypic synonyms:— Kalanchoe [unranked] Kitchingia (Baker) Baillon (1885: 468) ; Kalanchoe sect. Kitchingia (Baker) Boiteau (1947: 7) , pro parte; Bryophyllum Salisbury (1805 : t. 3) subg. Kitchingia (Baker) Byalt (2008: 462) , pro parte.

Heterotypic synonym:— Kalanchoe subg. Calophygia Descoings (2006: 24) , pro parte, excl. type.

Designation not validly published:—“ Kalanchoe subg. Kitchingia ” (Baker) Maire (1977: 263), nom. inval. ( Turland et al. 2018: Art. 41.5).

Not validly published infrasubgeneric designations applicable to taxa included in K. subg. Kitchingia :— “ Kalanchoe [sect. Kitchingia ] subsect. Sylvaticae ” Boiteau (1947: 8), nom. inval. ( Turland et al. 2018: Art. 39.1).

“ Kalanchoe [sect. Kitchingia ] [infragen. unranked] Sylvaticae ” Boiteau & Mannoni (1948a: 7), nom. inval. ( Turland et al. 2018: Art. 39.1, and see Art. 37.3).

“ Kalanchoe [sect. Kitchingia ] subsect. Campanulatae ” Boiteau (1947: 8), nom. inval. ( Turland et al. 2018: Art. 39.1).

“ Kalanchoe [sect. Kitchingia ] [infragen. unranked] Campanulatae ” Boiteau & Mannoni (1948a: 9), nom. inval. ( Turland et al. 2018: Art. 39.1, and see Art. 37.3).

Description:—Perennial, herbaceous, glabrous to pubescent, non-pruinose, pendent to erect, terrestrial or epiphytic, succulent subshrubs. Roots fibrous, plants sprouting from roots very uncommon. Stems thin, somewhat wiry, flexible. Leaves distinctly petiolate, not bulbiliferous; margins crenate. Inflorescences terminal, few-branched, sparsely-flowered, cymose, not bulbiliferous; pedicels widening towards calyx. Flowers pendent, brightly coloured; calyx short, not obscuring corolla, basally rounded; calyx tube formed by fusion of ± ½ of sepals; corolla flimsy, sometimes externally hairy; corolla tube elongated, campanulate-cylindrical, substantially longer than calyx, not constricted around ovaries; filaments internally adpressed to corolla tube, inserted above middle of corolla tube; anthers ± exserted, visible at corolla mouth; carpels small, oblong, free, distinctly divergent-spreading from base; carpels ± 3× shorter than styles; nectar scales slightly longer to slightly shorter than wide, semicircular to almost square to rectangular, never linear, slightly emarginate to indented apically. Chromosome number (basic): x = 17.

Kalanchoe subg. Kitchingia is naturally endemic to Madagascar. The taxonomy of the subgenus was reviewed in Smith et al. (2021c).