Kalanchoe subg. Alatae (Raymond-Hamet 1933: 547) Gideon F.Sm, Shtein

Smith, Gideon F., Shtein, Ronen & Klein, David-Paul, 2021, Kalanchoe subg. Alatae (Crassulaceae subfam. Kalanchooideae), a new rank for K. sect. Alatae, Phytotaxa 509 (2), pp. 255-258 : 255-257

Kalanchoe subg. Alatae (Raymond-Hamet 1933: 547) Gideon F.Sm, Shtein & D.-P.Klein, comb. et stat. nov.

Basionym:— Kalanchoe sect. Alatae Raymond-Hamet (1933: 547) . Homotypic synonym:— Kalanchoe subsect. Epidendrae Boiteau & Mannoni (1948: 57) .

Type:— Kitchingia uniflora Stapf (1908: 258) , accepted name Kalanchoe uniflora (Stapf) Hamet (1910: 52) , lectotype designated by Smith (2021: 179).

Diagnosis:—Taxa included in K. subg. Alatae differ from all other taxa included in Kalanchoe by their long, thin, winged seeds and horizontally flattened calyx tube that is much shorter than the free sepal segments, as well as by a combination of other characters, including their predominantly epiphytic habit; by lacking any form of bulbil production; by having colourful, pendant flowers; by having a long corolla tube that is strongly inflated in the basal ½; and by having nectar scales that are ribbon-like and more than twice as long as wide.

Amplified description:—Epiphytic, rarely terrestrial or lithophytic, small to medium-sized, herbaceous, ± glabrous except reproductive organs, succulent, perennial shrublets. Stems thin or up to ± 4 cm in diam., green, with finely scaly surface, basally procumbent, producing thin, surface roots. Leaves few to numerous, succulent, cauline-dispersed, opposite, sessile to petiolate, green; leaf blade orbicular, orbicular-oblong or oblong-obovate; base attenuate to rounded; margins subentire, crenate-toothed to lobed, not bulbiliferous; apex cuneate to rounded. Inflorescences 1–5, terminal, few-branched, sparsely-flowered, cymose, sometimes finely hairy, purple, not bulbiliferous; pedicels long, thin, widening towards flower. Flowers tetramerous, rather large, pendulous, colourful, very finely to distinctly hairy; calyx much shorter than and not obscuring, nor adpressed to, corolla, purple to purple-green; sepals basally fused for ± <⅓ of their lengths, fused portion horizontally flattened, free portion adpressed to corolla tube to spreading; corolla tube rather elongated, distinctly campanulate-cylindrical, basally ± 4-angled, isodiametric to slightly spreading around ovary, inflating to widest in apical ⅓, then constricting to where petals fuse, purple-pink to red or orange; corolla lobes round to ovate, weakly to strongly spreading, purple-pink, orange or yellow. Stamens inserted very low-down in corolla tube at ± level of carpels, 4 included, 4 slightly exserted; filaments long, but shorter than corolla tube; anthers 4 ± included, 4 ± exserted or at least visible at corolla mouth. Carpels short, <10 mm long, convergent, free, widest medially, lanceolate, very gradually attenuate towards styles; styles thin, about as long as carpels, often slightly longer or slightly shorter; nectar scales free, linear-ribbon-like to linear-rectangular,> 2× longer than wide, distinctly indented above; seeds long and thin, winged from both apices by linearlanceolate diaphanous structures.

Taxa included:—Three: K. porphyrocalyx var. porphyrocalyx ; K. porphyrocalyx var. sambiranensis Humbert ex Smith & Figueiredo (2019: 206) ; and K. uniflora .