Species
+

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana Poelln.

Christmas kalanchoe, Flaming Katie (EN), Flaming Katy, Florist Kalanchoe

Climate known 44 photographs Cactus or succulent
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana is a commonly cultivated evergreen house plant of the genus Kalanchoe native to Madagascar. It is known by the English common names flaming Katy, Christmas kalanchoe, florist kalanchoe and Madagascar widow's-thrill.

Text from Wikipedia, “Kalanchoe blossfeldiana”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Kalanchoe

Kalanchoe, , is a genus of about 125 species of tropical, succulent plants in the stonecrop family Crassulaceae, mainly native to Madagascar and tropical Africa. A Kalanchoe species was one of the first plants to be sent into space, sent on a resupply to the Soviet Salyut 6 space station in 1979.

Text from Wikipedia, “Kalanchoe”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Crassulaceae
Described by
Poelln.
Native to
Madagascar
Wild records
4 in range· 4 open

At a glance

Warmest month
19°C
Nov, mean day; nights 8 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
2644mm/yr
12 wet months · peak Jan 559 mm (CHELSA)
Light
26–42DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Grouped as a cactus or succulent by the genus Kalanchoe, which is reliably one kind of plant (archetype table). Rain rule: a summer growing season, June to September in the northern hemisphere (December to March at the habitat, southern). Habitat rain 2644 mm a year, wettest January at 559 mm, driest July at 28 mm (habitat calendar, southern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 26 to 42 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 1.6 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Kalanchoe coccinea (H.Perrier) Boiteau; Kalanchoe coccinea var. blossfeldiana (Poelln.) Boiteau; Kalanchoe globulifera var. coccinea H.Perrier.

Cultivation

Grouped as a cactus or succulent by the genus Kalanchoe, which is reliably one kind of plant (archetype table). The table holds no figure for this group, which spans too much for one minimum; the cold floor is the habitat's alone, and no prose comes from the table.

Its year Rain rule: a summer growing season, June to September in the northern hemisphere (December to March at the habitat, southern).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the year's rain (1989 mm of 2644 mm) falls in December to March, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 13.5 °C against a yearly mean of 12.2 °C). Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere; shifted six months for a northern-hemisphere collection: June to September.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 2644 mm a year, wettest January at 559 mm, driest July at 28 mm (habitat calendar, southern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

2644 mm a year at the habitat, 1989 mm of it December to March. Wettest month January at 559 mm, driest July at 28 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 2514 mm to 3056 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, southern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 26 to 42 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 26 to 42 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 1.6 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 1.6 °C, the absolute minimum -1.1 °C, 5 frost nights in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 23.3 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 5.1 °C in July (across the envelope cells 3.6 °C to 11.3 °C), warmest day 19.2 °C in November (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 1.6 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 55 to 69% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 15 °C in Jul to 19 °C in Nov; mean night from 5 °C in Jul to 10 °C in Feb. The cold quarter, Jun to Aug, is the three months around the coldest night. 2644 mm of rain a year, most in Jan. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 3 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was -1.1 °C and the 99th-percentile day 23.3 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.-5°10°15°20°25°30°frost23.3° 99th-percentile day (undated)-1.1° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0200400600800mm rainDLI 26–42RH 55–69 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 3 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C18 / 16–2418 / 16–2418 / 17–2418 / 17–2517 / 16–2416 / 14–2315 / 14–2216 / 14–2318 / 16–2419 / 18–2519 / 18–2519 / 17–25
Night °C10 / 8–1610 / 8–1610 / 8–169 / 8–158 / 6–146 / 5–125 / 4–115 / 4–116 / 4–127 / 6–148 / 7–159 / 8–15
Rain mm559 / 537–632546 / 526–596409 / 390–459157 / 148–18051 / 48–5529 / 27–3228 / 26–3239 / 36–4644 / 39–6396 / 89–131211 / 196–275475 / 452–555
DLI31 / 30–3229 / 29–3031 / 31–3332 / 32–3329 / 29–3126 / 26–2827 / 27–2931 / 31–3338 / 37–3942 / 41–4241 / 41–4236 / 35–37
RH %68 / 68–6969 / 68–706662 / 62–6359 / 58–6059 / 57–5958 / 56–5857 / 56–5855 / 54–5756 / 56–5759 / 59–6064 / 64–65

Each figure is the median across the 3 grid cells holding the 3 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 2081:4579 (-14.075, 48.975). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -1.1 °C, 1st-percentile night 1.6 °C, 99th-percentile day 23.3 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 3 distinct grid cells holding the 3 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 2081:4579 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -14.00_48.750, lapse-corrected +1360 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 2232 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeMadagascar· introduced: Sardegna, Senegal, Turkey, Vietnam, Florida, Mexico Southwest, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico
Kew's description“succulent subshrub” · “seasonally dry tropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker-14.033, 48.95 · in the densest population, 4 records (100% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 4 georeferenced records inside the native range, all openly licensed and shown on the map. 196 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. Under a dozen records: treat the map and the climate as indicative. 1 in-range record is placed to worse than 10 km and stays on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 4 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Kalanchoe blossfeldianaKalanchoe blossfeldianaKalanchoe blossfeldianaKalanchoe blossfeldianaKalanchoe blossfeldianaKalanchoe blossfeldianaKalanchoe blossfeldianaKalanchoe blossfeldiana

Photographs: (c) birdzilla, some rights reserved (CC BY); no rights reserved · CC0; (c) Thomas Mesaglio, some rights reserved (CC BY) (5); (c) Christine Laney, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Novel Gaseous Ethylene Binding Inhibitor Prevents Ethylene Effects in Potted Flowering Plants
Margrethe Serek, Edward C. Sisler, Michael S. Reid (1994) · Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science
Greener Synthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles: Characterization and Multifaceted Applications
Ali Aldalbahi, Seham S. Alterary, Ruba Ali Abdullrahman Almoghim, Manal A. Awad (2020) · Molecules
Transformation of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana with rol-genes is useful in molecular breeding towards compact growth
Brian Christensen, Sridevy Sriskandarajah, Margrethe Serek, Renate Müller (2008) · Plant Cell Reports
A method of genetic transformation and gene editing of succulents without tissue culture
Jinghua Lu, Shanshan Li, Shuai Deng, Mugui Wang (2024) · Plant Biotechnology Journal
Photoperiodism and Enzyme Activity
O. Queiroz, Claudine Morel (1974) · PLANT PHYSIOLOGY
Effects of elevated CO2 on time of flowering in four short-day and four long-day species
J. Y. C. Reekie, Peter R. Hicklenton, E. G. Reekie (1994) · Canadian Journal of Botany
Kalanchoe blossfeldiana plants expressing the Arabidopsis etr1-1 allele show reduced ethylene sensitivity
Mohsen Sanikhani, Heiko Mibus, Bjarne M. Stummann, Margrethe Serek (2007) · Plant Cell Reports
Biological activities of leaf extracts from selected Kalanchoe species and their relationship with bufadienolides content
Justyna Stefanowicz‐Hajduk, Anna Hering, Magdalena Gucwa, Rafał Hałasa (2020) · Pharmaceutical Biology
Efficient transformation of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana and production of male-sterile plants by engineered anther ablation
Begoña García‐Sogo, Benito Pineda, Lourdes Castelblanque, Teresa Antón (2009) · Plant Cell Reports

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Kalanchoe 13 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 78 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.