Family: Crassulaceae

Origin, Description & Uses
Kalanchoe pinnata (commonly known as airplant, cathedral bells, or life plant) is a succulent species native to Madagascar that has spread widely throughout tropical and subtropical regions around the world. It is easily recognized by its thick, fleshy leaves with scalloped edges that often produce tiny plantlets along the margins. These plantlets can drop off and root readily, allowing the plant to reproduce without seeds. It is sometimes grown in gardens as an ornamental plant for its unusual foliage and occasional tubular, bell-shaped flowers, and it has also been used in traditional herbal practices in various cultures.

Risks & Threats
In Hawaiʻi, Kalanchoe pinnata is naturalized on Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Maui, and Hawaiʻi Island, meaning it now grows and reproduces in the wild without cultivation. This species possesses traits that are cause for concern, including rapid vegetative reproduction through plantlets and the ability to spread into disturbed areas, rocky slopes, and dry habitats. These characteristics allow it to form dense patches that can displace native vegetation and reduce habitat quality for native plants and insects. Because of its persistence and spread across multiple islands, it has the potential to negatively impact tropical island ecosystems over time. Choosing low-risk or native Hawaiian plants is recommended to help protect local biodiversity and prevent further spread.

High Risk Traits:

• Thrives in tropical climates
  
• Widely naturalized
  
• A greenhouse, and disturbance weed
  
• A potential agricultural weed
  
• An environmental weed
  
• Other Kalanchoe species have become invasive
  
• Allelopathic
  
• Toxic to animals, and possibly people
  
• Shade-tolerant
  
• Tolerates many soil types
  
• Forms dense cover that excludes other vegetation
  
• Produces viable seeds in parts of introduced range (unclear for Hawaiian Islands)
  
• Suckers from base and spreads vegetatively by forming young plantlets on the leaf margins
  
• Reaches sexual maturity in 2 years (but likely able to reproduce vegetatively at an earlier age)
  
• Accidental dispersal in garden waste
  
• Seeds, if produced, tiny and probably wind-dispersed
  
• Damage to plant may allow for vegetative reproduction

Low Risk Traits:

• Unarmed (no spines, thorns or burrs)
  
• Palatable, but toxic, to livestock
  
• Ornamental
  
• Seed production may be limited, or lacking, in parts of introduced range
  
• Herbicides, and fire, may provide effective control)