Bryophyllum

Bryophyllum, a genus of plants belonging to the Crassulaceae or house-leek family, having a bell-shaped, four-cleft calyx, tetramerous corolla and numerous glands at the base of its carpels. The best-known species is B. calycinum, a native of Madagascar, Mauritius, and the Moluccas, the fleshy pinnately-lobed leaves of which form buds at the notches on their margins capable of growing into new plants. This case has often been quoted in illustration of the foliar nature of carpels and the homology of most ovules with marginal buds.