Bryophyllum pinnatum, also known as the air plant, cathedral bells, life plant, miracle leaf, and Goethe plant is a succulent plant native to Madagascar, which is a popular houseplant and has become naturalized in tropical and subtropical areas. It is distinctive for the profusion of miniature plantlets that form on the margins of its phylloclades, a trait it has in common with some other members of its genus.
The “leaves” of this species are actually leaf-stem combinations called phylloclades. They are thick, fleshy, elliptical in shape, curved, with a crenate or serrated margin, often reddish. Simple at the base of the stem, the leaves are imparipinnate at the top, 10-30 cm long , with 3-5 pairs of fleshy limb lobes.
The leaves are remarkable for their ability to produce bulblets. At their margin, between the teeth, adventitious buds appear, which in development produce roots, stems and leaves. When the seedlings formed fall to the ground, they root and quickly give new plants. This is a fairly common trait in the subgenus Bryophyllum. The fruits are follicles (10-15 mm ) which are found in the persistent calyx and corolla.