Bryophyllum pinnatum

Common name: Air Plant, Donkey Ears, Life Plant, Leaf of Life, Resurrection Plant, Canterbury Bells, Cathedral Bells, Mexican Love Plant, Floppers • Hindi: Amar poi अमर पोई • Malayalam: Elamarunna •Tamil: Runakkalli • Bengali: Kop pata • Urdu: Zakhmhaiyat ज़ख़्महयात • Manipuri: , মনাহিদাক Manahidak

Botanical name: Kalanchoe pinnata   

Family: Crassulaceae (sedum family)

Synonyms: Cotyledon pinnata, Bryophyllum pinnatum

Geographical distribution

The plant occurs as a weed throughout the country in the dried regions and also cultivated in

houses and gardens.

Introduction Native Hawaiian plant. Easy to grow just from one leaf set on top of moist soil. Very fast growing, drought tolerant small shrub. Tolerates almost any conditions. Spectacular bloomer. Air Plant grows to about 3-6 feet tall. The erect, thick, succulent stems bear large, fleshy leaves, each with 3 or 5 oval leaflets with round-toothed edges. Young plantlets develop along the margins of the mature leaves. The attractive, drooping blooms are borne on large panicles. The flowers have purple or yellowish-white tinged calyxes and reddish corollas. Kalanchoe is a genus of about 125 species of tropical, succulent flowering plants in the Family Crassulaceae, mainly native to the Old World but with a few species in the New World. These plants are cultivated as ornamental houseplants and rock or "cactus" garden plants. They are popular because of their ease of propagation, low water requirements, and wide variety of flower colors typically borne in clusters well above the vegetative growth. The "Air plant" Kalanchoe pinnata is a curiosity because new individuals develop vegetatively at indents along the leaf, usually after the leaf has broken off the plant and is laying on the ground, where the new plant can take root.

Chemical composition

The leaves contain maleic, iso-citric and citric acid.

Medicinal uses:  Bahamians call it Life Leaf or Ploppers. In the Bahamas it is mostly used for Asthma or shortness in breath.  The leaf is useful in diarrhoea, dysentery, calculous affections and cholera. The leaves are styptic, astringent and antiseptic; they are slightly toasted before they are applied to contused and unhealthy wounds, bruises, boils, fresh cuts, ulcers and bites of venomous insects.

Folk medicinal uses

The leaf juice is given in diarrhoea, cholera and calculus affections, in doses of 45-180 gm. mixed with twice its quantity of butter.