Cactus Kalanchoe Daigremontiana

Kalanchoe Daigremontiana, commonly referred to as devil’s spine, is a succulent native to Madagascar. It has some potential as an exotic plant, has the unusual feature of producing shoots of new plants at the margins of leaves, which then fall and these produce roots very easily after little contact with the substrate.

It has a long stem that can reach one meter in height, the leaves are opposite each other, are fleshy and oval and can be between fifteen and twenty centimeters long by four to five in width. The body is light green on the right, and conversely has long purple patches that range from the tip to where it sticks with the stem.

Plants that are already adult have the power to develop lateral roots in stem structures and the leaves tend to rise at the top of the plant, thus reaching a large weight, causing it to tilt laterally and the roots that will emerge or have emerged may create new roots that will eventually be independent plants.

Flowering never occurs every year like other species of succulent or cactus, but sporadically and unfortunately, some specimen can never flourish. If we’re lucky and we can see the flowers, we can see the stem stretching vertically to thirty centimeters in just two days, an inflorescence will come out, or something that is, a composite grape that is shaped like an umbrella, with small flowers flared in pink greyish or sometimes can be orange, but it’s not the most common color.

The irrigation must be moderate but not very closely followed, because if it has too much water, we will get it rotting and we will be left without this specimen. By irrigating fortnightly in the spring and summer and monthly in the autumn (until October) there will be enough and in the winter the irrigation will be removed. If you see that the leaves are curled or screwed, it is a sign that it needs water, once you water it will return to its natural state.

This variety of Kalanchoe is famous for its many medicinal applications. It can be used by women who are undergoing pregnancy and have premature contractions and has positive side effects that are minimal. If you go to a pharmacy or somewhere where they sell medicines, we already have at our disposal medicines produced from some plant compound.