From the wildest dry and lonely places of Madagascar, home to so many unusual plants, comes this Kalanchoe where it thrives in drought half the year and welcomes the rare passing rainstorms. This Kalanchoe Tomentosa has the fanciful name of Chocolate Soldier because it reminds someone of chocolate. Chocolate does show up on the plant's tips and sometimes washes over a lot of the leaves. But the best name for this plant is the Panda Plant for the leaves that look like baby teddy bear paws with little brown dots for toes (often it's seven brown dots for some reason). The plant is a small bushy thing with slim but puffy succulent, lance-shaped leaves, slightly cupped, around 2-3"ish long with a rounded pointy tip, in a soft, pale green. The entire plant is covered head to toe with a white velvet made up of teeny, tiny white hairs which serve the survival purpose of sun protection and moisture retention. But it's very fun, also giving more reason to call it Panda Plant, it's so cute and furry. The leaves circle their succulent, pale green stem, pointing up a bit when new then out when older to make each stem a nice and full little bush. Newest leaves have a random, reddish/rust wash in the center that fades with age. As Panda grows, he branches and grows offsets from the bottom to make nice little bushes a couple of feet high, stems getting a little woody as they grow. You will be rewarded for your excellent care with flowers now and then; a branch will rise up branching and bearing clusters of little tubes flowers, yellow at the base and deep burgundy on all the rest; each flower has a little, four petaled mouth with a palest pink lipstick line on the very edge. In Madagascar, they are visited by ants, bees, and butterflies, who love those little flowers.
- Low Maintenance
- Drought Tolerant
Quick Care Guide:
- Water - Low (1): Needs very little water to survive. Wait until the plant is completely dry then fully soak. Drought tolerant by nature.
- High - (5): Plant needs a lot of light; direct is even better. These plants do best when placed on a window sill or next to a bright window. Avoid concentrated, hot light from window which may cause burning (magnifying glass effect).
- Difficulty - Low (1): These plants need barely any attention to thrive. Set it and forget it.