Bryophyllum

Bryophyllum (Gr. bryon, 'blossom,' and phyl-lon, 'leaf'), a genus of Crassulaceæ (q.v.). B. calycinum, a succulent shrubby plant, a native of the Moluccas, with oblong, crenulated leaves, and large drooping panicles of greenish-yellow flowers, is not unfrequent in British and other hothouses, being regarded as an object of interest on account of its producing buds on the edges of the leaves more readily than almost any other plant, especially when the leaf is pegged down upon the soil, the buds then at once forming independent plants. The same habit is exhibited by the British Bog-orchis (Malaxis paludosa), by some species of ferns, &c. The leaves are valued for poulticing in the East. See BUD and LEAF.