lavender scallops
A fleshy herbaceous plant with upright or spreading stems growing 20-60 cm tall. Its broad paired leaves are bluish, greyish or lavender in colour with pinkish or brownish margins. Tiny plantlets are produced along the toothed margins of these leaves. Its drooping bell-shaped flowers are borne in dense clusters at the top of its branched stems. These flowers (17-20 mm long) are usually red, reddish-orange or purplish in colour.
Naturalised in the coastal districts of south-eastern Queensland, but mainly in the Moreton district. Also naturalised in the coastal districts of central and northern Queensland, in inland northern New South Wales, and in the southern parts of South Australia.
A weed of coastal environs, urban bushland, open woodlands, riparian vegetation, roadsides, disturbed sites and waste areas.
A long-lived (i.e. perennial) fleshy (i.e. succulent) plant with upright (i.e. erect) flowering stems 20-60 cm tall. It also produces spreading (i.e. decumbent) non-flowering stems that take root wherever they lie on the ground.
The smooth stems are relatively thick, greyish or bluish-green in colour and hairless (i.e. glabrous). The oppositely arranged leaves are fleshy (i.e. succulent) and borne on short stalks (i.e. petioles) 1-6 mm long. These leaves (1.2-10 cm long and 8-50 mm wide) are oval (i.e. elliptic), egg-shaped in outline (i.e. obovate) or slightly elongated in shape (i.e. oblong) with bluntly toothed (i.e. crenate) margins and rounded tips (i.e. obtuse apices). They are hairless (i.e. glabrous) and bluish-green, bluish-grey or lavender-tinged, with pinkish or brownish-coloured margins. Tiny plantlets are often formed in the toothed margins of these leaves.
The bell-shaped (i.e. tubular), drooping (i.e. pendulous), flowers are arranged in branched clusters at the tips of the stems (i.e. in terminal inflorescences). These flowers (17-20 mm long) have four greyish or pinkish coloured sepals that are fused at the base into a tube (i.e. calyx tube). The four red, reddish-orange, purplish or pinkish petals are also fused into a tube (i.e. corolla tube) that divides into four petal lobes (i.e. corolla lobes) near the tip. The flowers also have a four-lobed ovary, four styles and eight stamens. The fruit are papery and membranous, separating into four slender compartments (i.e. carpels). They generally remain enclosed within the old flower parts and contain numerous tiny seeds (less than 1 mm long).
This species produces seed, but its main means of reproduction is vegetative. Tiny plantlets are produced along the edges of its fleshy (i.e. succulent) leaves and also on the branches of its old flower clusters. Dislodged leaves and broken leaf parts can also take root and give rise to new plants.Vegetative plant parts and seeds are commonly spread in dumped garden waste. The very fine seeds are probably also wind and water dispersed and its leaves and plantlets may also be dislodged and spread by animals, vehicles, machinery and slashers.
Lavender scallops (Bryophyllum fedtschenkoi) is very similar to resurrection plant (Bryophyllum pinnatum) and relatively similar to mother-of-millions (Bryophyllum delagoense), hybrid mother-of-millions (Bryophyllum × houghtonii), mother-of-thousands (Bryophyllum daigremontianum) and blooming boxes (Bryophyllum proliferum). These species can be distinguished from each other by the following differences: lavender scallops (Bryophyllum fedtschenkoi) has small, broad, flattened, leaves (1.2-10 cm long and 0.8-5 cm wide) that are always simple. These leaves are usually bluish-green or greyish-green in colour and have several pinkish or brownish blunt teeth along their margins (i.e. they are crenate).resurrection plant (Bryophyllum pinnatum) has large, broad, flattened, leaves (5-25 cm long and 2-12.5 cm wide) that are often compound (i.e. trifoliate or pinnate). These leaves are usually bright green or light green in colour have numerous blunt teeth along their margins (i.e. they are crenate).mother-of-millions (Bryophyllum delagoense) has relatively small cylindrical (i.e. terete) leaves (usually less than 10 cm long and only 2-6 mm wide) that are always simple. These leaves are greyish in colour with darker blotches (i.e. they are variegated) and have a few teeth at their tips (i.e. apical notches).hybrid mother-of-millions (Bryophyllum × houghtonii) has relatively small boat-shaped or folded leaves (4-8 cm long and 8-20 mm wide) that are always simple. These leaves are greyish or greyish-green in colour with darker blotches (i.e. they are variegated) and have numerous teeth along their margins (i.e. marginal notches).mother-of-thousands (Bryophyllum daigremontianum) has relatively large boat-shaped or folded leaves (10-28 cm long 2-5 cm wide) that are always simple. These leaves are greyish-green in colour with some purplish blotches on their undersides (i.e. they are variegated) and have numerous teeth along their margins (i.e. marginal notches).blooming boxes (Bryophyllum proliferum) has large compound (i.e. pinnate) leaves with 7-11 leaflets (7-5-15 cm long and about 3.5 cm wide). These greenish-coloured leaflets are somewhat elongated in shape, flattened, and have numerous blunt teeth along their margins (i.e. they are crenate). It is also relatively similar to silver kalanchoe (Kalanchoe pumila) and cultivars and hybrids of kalanchoe (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana). However, these cultivated plants have smaller upright flowers (about 1-1.5 cm long).
