The homotypic nomenclature of the name Kalanchoe pinnata (Lam.) Pers. (Crassulaceae), a Madagascan species widely naturalised in mild-climate parts of the world, is clarified. Four years before Lamarck in 1786 published the basionym, Cotyledon pinnata, of Persoon's combination, Linnaeus [filius], in 1782, published the name Crassula pinnata L.f. We show that the name Crassula pinnata, which is sometimes incorrectly cited as the basionym of Persoon's combination, is of unresolved application.