Succulent ID Help Please

[Arizona Jeanie]

Hello All,
Not an orchid, for sure. Can anyone help me ID this succulent? I'd like to know what it is, what it's supposed to look like, and how to care for it. Please disregard the volunteers that are low in the pot, they'll be re-homed when I repot. Thanks!

[Dollythehun]

ES will know. It looks like kalenchloe "flippin' flapjacks" on a stalk. Lol

[Arizona Jeanie]

I have no idea why it stretched out like that and dropped the lower leaves. It gets bright light in the greenhouse. Maybe it's in the wrong soil, or the roots might be in trouble. I almost threw it out, but it is kind of interesting. The aerial roots or shoots (or whatever they are) are pliable and seem to still be alive. It did have a severe mealybug problem for awhile, that may have contributed. I think we have that cleared up now, maybe with some TLC it can come back to whatever it's supposed to look like. I'm looking forward to Estacion Seca's opinion, but was wondering if anyone might recognize it. It does look a bit like "flippin' flapjacks", maybe a relative.

[WaterWitchin]

I'd be guessing, but bring on the maple syrup!

[Paul]

My guess would be that the "bright light" is not bright enough. Really can't be sure what it is supposed to be though Kalanchoe occurred as a possibility to me as well. I'd hack off the upper growths and pitch the rest. Let the uppers callous over for a couple days before potting them up.

[Arizona Jeanie]

"Flippin flapjacks" gave me a clue, I hunted through the Kalanchoes and may have found it, but it seems to have several names. Kalanchoe marnieriana, K. panamensis, and Bryophyllum marnierianum. All the same plant. Seems like some of what we call Kalanchoes are sometimes moved to Bryophyllums. Anyone know which is currently correct?
When I took a closer look at the "volunteers" in the bottom of the pot, one of them looks like a sprout from a fallen leaf from this plant. That tends to confirm the ID in my opinion. The leaf arrangement is distinctive.
I'm thinking on the repot to cut off and re-start the upper parts that have leaves and what I think might be adventitous roots, as Paul suggests. I'll keep the base also, see if it re-sprouts, and also try a couple of leaf cuttings. Give it every chance and bit of TLC, see what happens.
I'm still open to advice and opinion, anyone else out there?
Thanks

[estación seca]

It's probably Kalanchoe marmorata from Madagascar, but there are several similar species. It's in family Crassulaceae. Kalanchoe has tubular flowers with four reflexed petals that usually hang downwards. Most are borne in flat clusters atop tall terminal stems, usually in winter.

They grow like this, with long bare stems. Most people periodically root tip cuttings to keep them neat. The long stringy things are aerial roots. Broken-off leaves form new plants at the petiole scar if near moist soil, or in a very humid atmosphere.

Bryophyllum was sunk into Kalanchoe. These species form tiny new plants at the notches of leaf margins. They can spread this way and become greenhouse weeds.

All are extremely easy to grow, tolerating more heat than most other Crassulaceae. None tolerates any frost.

[Dollythehun]

Well, there you have it!

[Arizona Jeanie]

Thanks ES, looks like I have this one ID'd. Now that I know how it grows, I can get it repotted and neatened up, try for a fuller pot. I'll be watching for flowers next year, always a plus. I wonder how it would do in a hanging basket, or are the stems too upright?
Thanks for clarifying the nomenclature. I keep on learning.
Thanks

[estación seca]

This kind has to get big and sprawl all over before flowering. A hanging basket or planting in a bed would be fine. In habitat they wander through other shrubs and among rocks. The more upright ones like K. tubiflora don't branch, they just grow straight up, and flower in 2-3 years from a tiny plantlet.