Sunday, March 30, 2008

MOTHER OF THOUSANDS: Bryophyllum daigremontianum

Donna, do you remember this little guy? He was a "bonus" when I bought my varigated Bear Paw plant, a tiny little seedling that I was sure to pot with the very same Bear Paw plant. Anyway, at first we thought that he was going to be a baby Bear Paw, because of the jiggy-jaggy edges, but he always seemed to look a little like something else. And where was his fur? I've noticed on my lastest "freebies," i.e. the baby Chocolate Soldiers, that they are fuzzy from conception, so I'm certain this is an entirely different plant all together.

What's interesting, is the plant that I think it's going to be is one that is on my wish list, and one that I'll be able to share with everyone, commonly known as the "Mother of Thousands." What made me think that this was it was something I noticed on the edge of two of the inside leaves; there appears to be something growing on the tips of them, like a little baby plant. This really surprised me, and so knowing that my camera is a great magnifying glass of sorts, I took a ton of pictures until I got the perfect one to show you. Please click the picture above to enlarge and take a good look at the "bump" growing on the middle top leaf. Doesn't it look like a little plant starting to grow? There's one growing on the leaf exactly across from it too! Okay, so I poked around a bit, and here's a picture of the plant, a Bryophyllum daigremontianum, plus a link to the website, in a language I do not understand, but the pictures are worth a thousand words:

Doesn't it look a lot like my plant??? It's really tripping me out! I believe mine is a varigated version also. I will keep my eye on this little baby and keep you posted as to it's growth. Here's a couple more pictures including one of it next to my dirty little varigated Bear Paw that it came with.
Rats, I just read this article, and realize that maybe I should rid myself of this poisonous plant. Darn it, and it's so cool looking. It explains a lot that it landed in another planter and made it's way to my home, sneaky little devil. Is there a way to maintain it without having millions of babies?

14 comments:

Jade said...

What I used to do to control mine (before I gave up) is to pick off all the plantlets before they could drop and make new plants. The little ones would go in the trash.

Now I have just resigned myself to having these (because I have several types) all over in different pots and I just weed them out like I do everything else.

Kelly said...

That's a good idea. I think they're so beautiful! Thanks for your suggestion!

Donna said...

Neat, soon you'll have a billion of them. I think the tubiflora one that I have is also a type of "Mother of Thousands" you know, the one with the leopard like spots? Strange thing is the babies only grow on the tips of the tubular leaf and not throughout the whole leaf like the one you have.

Julie said...

LOL...the answer to your last question in this post is "NO"!!!
I have babies coming up constantly all around mine which is in a pot...but the babies fall on the ground all around it...and I am about to dump the whole thing in the trash...sadly.

Kelly said...

Yeah, I know, I may have to rethink keeping this baby. It surprises me that she's getting babies already! Talk about determination to reproduce!

Donna said...

Aw, don't get rid of the baby. They are much easier to contain in a potted environment. Just keep it far, far away from your other pots, hee-hee. I'll have to show you the tips of my Mother of Thousands plant. It doesn't have quite as many babies.

Kelly said...

It's funny how many I've seen inside pots at the plant nursery. They really do plant themselves everywhere! I'm still deciding on whether to keep it or not.

HanRen said...

Oh well, hope you didnot ditch the plant. There is a response from the link you were refering to...aparently the poisonous part of the plant is just its flower:)

thisworld said...

I want a mother of a thousand, where do i get one? lvinston@gmail.com

jilliebeans said...

You can get baby plant-lets on Ebay, just search for kalanchoe, and you'll find them or at GlassHouseWorks.com

Nadine said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Nadine said...

Ebay is a good place to buy many starter plants. Hope this help.

Unknown said...

I have a small house dog. Should I be worried to have the plant around?

GardenLady said...

Exact same thing is happening to me right now! Thought my bears paw baby had 3 babies but no...they’re totally looking like mother of thousands now...😂🤣