Kalanchoe beharensis Drake
Felt plant, felt bush, velvet leaf, velvet leaf kalanchoe, elephant’s ear kalanchoe
Felt plant is native to Madagascar. They are not found in the wild in North America.
Plants: Plants have a slender stem knotted with leaf scars, up to 5′ (1.5 m) tall, rarely reaching twice that height. The stem starts out hairless, becoming hairier further up.
Leaves: Leaves are opposite, somewhere between triangular and lanceolate, up to 4 ⨉ 1¾–4″ (10 ⨉ 5–10 cm), rarely reaching 8″ (20 cm) in length. They are fleshy, with edges bending upward on older leaves, making them concave. Leaf edges are doubly crenate, and covered with dense woolly brown hairs, creating the impression of rusty or olive-colored felt.
Flowers: On a terminal spike 1½–2′ (50–60 cm) in height, flowers are arranged in a loose, elaborately branched corymb. Flowers are greenish-yellow.
Fruits: Felt plants spread via plantlets, and also produce seeds.
Habitats: Desert habitats in native southwestern Madagascar.
Online References:
2/26/2010 · San Diego Zoo, San Diego, California · ≈ 2½ × 2′ (85 × 69 cm) 
2/26/2010 · San Diego Zoo, San Diego, California 
2/24/2010 · San Diego (Quail) Botanic Garden, Encinitas, California · ≈ 2 × 2′ (57 × 60 cm) 
2/24/2010 · San Diego (Quail) Botanic Garden, Encinitas, California · ≈ 3½ × 2½′ (110 × 73 cm) 
1/5/2026 · South Africa · By Benjamin Winslow 
2/26/2010 · San Diego Zoo, San Diego, California 
Blue Chalksticks (Senecio serpens) on right. · 2/24/2010 · San Diego (Quail) Botanic Garden, Encinitas, California 
4/6/2011 · Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Maryland · ≈ 5 × 8″ (13 × 19 cm) 
ID is uncertain 
2/26/2010 · San Diego Zoo, San Diego, California 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Rosidae | Roses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more |
| Order | Rosales | Rose family and eight others |
| Family | Crassulaceae | Succulents that store water in leaves |
| Genus | Kalanchoe | Modern Latin, from French, based on Chinese gāláncài |
| Species | beharensis | For Behara, a town at the southern tip of Madagascar, part of its native range |
Kalanchoe beharensis description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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