The Phyto-Philes: White Lady
Created | Updated Jun 28, 2015
White Lady
Willem is a wildlife artist based in South Africa. He says "My aim is simply to express the beauty and wonder that is in Nature, and to heighten people's appreciation of plants, animals and the wilderness. Not everything I paint is African! Though I've never been there, I'm also fascinated by Asia and I've done paintings of Asian rhinos and birds as well. I may in future do some of European, Australian and American species too. I'm fascinated by wild things from all over the world! I mainly paint in watercolours. . . but actually many media including 'digital' paintings with the computer!"
The White Lady, Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, is a very widespread succulent plant of South Africa, which is frequently cultivated as well. It gets its name from the white powder that covers its leaves as well as its flowers. The powder often rubs off the leaf rosettes, revealing various lovely shades of yellow, orange and red, and the leaves and flowers also often show a bluish bloom. This plant is a member of the Crassula family, and therefore a relative of the Beestebal and the Brittle Tackies. The genus it belongs to, Kalanchoe, was named after the local name of one of the species from Asia, while the species name thyrsiflora means 'flowers in a thyrse', which is the kind of arrangement of its inflorescence.
Succulent Beauty of the Highveld
The Highveld is the high, grassy interior of central to northeastern South Africa. It lies at an altitude averaging about 1500m/5 000 ft above sea level, and experiences hot summers but cold winters, often with heavy frost. The rainfall varies from fairly sparse to quite heavy, but falls mainly in the summer. Fires happen frequently, especially when the grass is tall and dense. This region does not have many succulents; those found there, have to be adapted to surviving fire as well as frost. Some species such as aloes have very thick leaves that die and dry from the tips; during a fire, the dry leaf tips are scorched, but the central rosettes often survive. The leaf sap of aloes and other highveld succulents also have chemicals protecting them against frost damage. This is so successful that one aloe, the remarkably spiral aloe of Lesotho, survives very high up in the mountains where heavy snow falls every year.
The white lady is not as highly adapted as these aloes. It does have leaves not particularly prone to frost damage, like other high-growing members of the Crassula family. The white powder on the leaves and flower stems is actually an adaptation to heat, reflecting the sunlight so that the plants don’t overheat in the summer. It has little fire protection. At least, its leaves suffer great damage from fire, and the above-ground portions of the rosettes are often destroyed. But the species can re-sprout from the underground rootstock. Furthermore, it grows rapidly and often completes its life cycle in three or four years, flowering and then dying. Fires in its range rarely happen yearly, most of the time happening once every three to thirty years for any particular area. This gives the plant enough time between fires to grow from a seedling to an adult plant … indeed in many places there is enough time for several life cycles. After flowering, the fruit develops – seed capsules that release thousands upon thousands of tiny seeds that are blown out over the grassland by the wind. Wherever these settle and germinate, provided there's room and enough moisture, the new white lady plants start growing. For the first year or two they only grow the low rosettes close to ground level – but these can grow quite large. In their second or third year they develop the tall inflorescence. This can, as you see in my photo, reach a height of almost 2m/6'7" in gardens, but in nature, a height of 1.2m/4' is more likely. The flowers and inflorescence last long, sometimes a year or more, before finally drying out and dying.
Whereas in nature, most of the time plants will be seen growing singly, in gardens they often form clumps, again as you can see in my photos. Also, while in nature the plants, after flowering, usually die completely, in the garden they will typically re-sprout from the rootstock. The original rosette and flower stalk will die, but new rosettes will emerge from its base.
I've been fortunate to witness many ecological aspects of this species in the wild. Like many of its relatives, it has a toxic compound in its leaves that can cause death in cattle, sheep or goats that accidentally eat it. But wild animals are smart enough to leave it alone! Except for those critters who actually make use of the leaf poisons. These include a variety of grasshopper species like the ones you see here. Somehow, these little insects are able to safely ingest these toxins and incorporate them in their own bodies. Many caterpillars can do the same. This then gives them protection! Very few birds or other animals are able to eat these noxious grasshoppers and caterpillars.
But the white lady also makes more benign contributions. Its flowers with their ample nectar are a food source for an even greater variety of insects. Here you see one of our huge, chunky and fuzzy Carpenter Bees coming in to enjoy a snack.
While the white lady usually grows amidst rocks and grass, I've come across one little plant growing in a strange place. This one is growing on a tree! There is just a tiny crack in the bark, but that was enough for the little plant to root in and grow to a fair size. Plants that grow on other plants are called epiphytes. Most epiphytes are specialized for the purpose, and the orchid family, especially, contains a huge number of epiphytic species. White ladies are not considered to be epiphytes, but this little individual sure is one. I've seen some other strange plants growing as epiphytes as well. Interestingly, all of them were succulents. Succulent plants are well adapted to survive on very meagre rations, such as the very little bit of water that will collect in a small crevice up in the crown of a tree, and the tiny bit of humus from trapped leaves and decomposing bark flakes.
This widespread species has uses among humans as well. That same sap with the toxins in it is used medically to drive out worms, as well as for relieving earaches and colds. It is also used as a magical charm.
Growing the White Lady
This succulent is now grown world-wide. Unlike many succulents, it can withstand cold winters with moderate frost and light snow, making it suitable for outdoors planting in southern Europe and the southern USA. It will not thrive in very wet regions, especially if the winters are wet, but this can be ameliorated by planting it in very well-draining, gravelly soil, and in full sun. A drawback is that it dies back after its second or third year, but the dying plant will likely provide a few new little offspring to take its place. Just cut away the dead and dying sections so that the new plants have room to grow. It is sometimes afflicted with aphids. These can be controlled with pesticides or with a simple spray of soapy water.
The white lady can easily be grown from seeds, which is plentiful in the wild, and can be bought by mail order over the internet. Being very fine, it is best to take a lot of the fine seeds and mix them with sand; then sprinkle the sand-and-seed mix on top of the growing medium. A rich, well-draining medium is ideal. Keep moist and the little plants should soon start growing. Within a couple of months they should be large enough to plant out separately.
The plants can also be very easily grown and multiplied from the offsets made from the bases of the rosettes. These can simply be detached and planted out in separate bags, cared for until they are big and strong, and then replanted in the garden. New plants can also be grown from leaf and stem cuttings. Cut off a section of stem with a leaf; let it dry out in a cool, shady place for a week or two so that scar tissue can form over the wound; then plant it in a sandy, well-draining soil mix. It should form roots after a few weeks, and start growing into a new plant.
