Original

Smith, Gideon F., 2025, Clarifying application of the name Kalanchoe delagoensis (Crassulaceae, Cotyledonoideae), the most invasive Kalanchoe globally, Candollea 80 (1), pp. 65-68 : 66

Original material of Kalanchoe delagoensis

Only a single specimen — “Exemplum unicum [...]” — was cited by ECKLON & ZEYHER (1837: 305) when they described Kalanchoe delagoensis . The text from ECKLON & ZEYHER (1837: 305) was cut out and pasted onto the specimen& in lieu of a traditional herbarium label. The specimen consists of only two flowers (mounted erectly — at anthesis the flowers of the species are pendent) and a stem or peduncle fragment& which prompted ECKLON & ZEYHER (1837: 305) to additionally refer to the material as “Exemplum [...] mutilum”. The full text states: “1955. KALANCHOE delagoensis .—Exemplum unicum et mutilum Cel. Commodore Owen ad &&Delagoabay” legit et nobiscum communicavit. Flor. Jun. — Flores saturate rosei.”

This specimen could have been collected by either Capt. William Fitz William Owen (1774–1857) or by John Forbes (1798–1823)& the first botanist on the British expedition that& from 1822 to 1826& inter alia surveyed& mapped& and charted parts of the southern and eastern coasts of Africa (FIGUEIREDO & SMITH & 2022: 186& 2024a: 167–169). The specimen deposited in S (S-G-10717)& is the holotype lacking collector name& date and locality .

The specimen could have originated from Madagascar & where Kalanchoe delagoensis occurs naturally& or it could have been collected in Delagoa Bay& i.e.& the area around presentday Maputo [Bay] in southern Mozambique & where it could already have become established.

the leaf apices; B. A light orange-flowered variant.

[A: Naturalised in Porto Covo, Alentejo, Portugal, 30.XII.2017;

B: Naturalised in Mokopane , Limpopo Prov., South Africa, 28.VI.2022] [Photos: G.F. Smith]