Print Page Kalanchoe delagoensis (Crassulaceae) is an invasive species in countries like United States, South Africa and Australia, and is naturalized in Mexico. This plant is known as “mother of millions” because of the numerous plantlets that grow from the margin of their leaves. Our objective was to identify light and water conditions that determine survival of clonal offspring. We evaluated the survival of the plantlets under 16 treatments (composed of four levels of water saturation: 0, 25, 50 and 100% and four levels of PAR: 100, 60, 40 and 30%). Secondly, we measured the production of plantlets under three different light conditions (100, 80 and 30%). We also collected 1,000 individuals from established populations to correlate biomass and root: shoot ratios as a measure of plant stress, and compared these with plants grown under controlled conditions.
Results/Conclusions
Both light and water were important for plantlet survival (P < 0.01). Plantlets were able to survive with no watering and full sunlight for more than three months showing the resistance of clonal offpring. Plantlets were only produced under full sunlight hinting to stress induced clonal reproduction. We found that root biomass largely explains shoot biomass (r2=0.726, P<0.01) and plants under controlled conditions in full sunlight had a higher root shoot ratio (0.18) compared to plants under 80 and 30% PAR (P<0.01). The results show the importance of clonality to population maintenance. Although water and light were both important for the survival of clonal offspring, light encouraged clonal production and a higher biomass investment towards roots. The resistance and magnitude of the clonal process in K. delagoensis confers clear advantages in the invasion process.
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