| General Information |
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| Distribution | A genus of about 144 species (including Bryophyllum Salisb.), primarily from Africa and Madagascar, with a few Asian or pantropical species and 1 in South America.
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Habit
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Succulent, perennial herbs or subshrubs, often monocarpic.
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Leaves
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Leaves often deciduous at anthesis, petiolate or subsessile, simple or pinnately compound, opposite or whorled, sometimes alternate above, margin crenate, serrate, or sometimes entire, often producing adventitious buds.
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Flowers
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Flowers in 1‒2 terminal cymes; sepals 4, sometimes inflated, connate into a tube or distinct; corolla tubular, constricted above the ovaries, 4-lobed; stamens (4–)8; ovaries 4, slender and erect, ovules numerous.
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Fruit
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Fruit a follicle.
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Notes
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The generic name is apparently derived from the Chinese vernacular name of one of the species in the genus.
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Contributor
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Nancy Khan
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