SPECIES DESCRIPTION
SEDUM SEDIFORME

Family:- CRASSULACEAE

Common Names:- Mediterranean stonecrop

Synonyms:- Sedum altissimum, Sedum nicaeensis.

Meaning:- Sedum (L) A name used by the Roman naturalist and philosopher
Pliny, reference to the plants habit of ''sitting'' on rocks etc.
                  Sediforme (L) With the habit of a stonecrop.          
                
General description:- Robust, hairless (glabrous), somewhat covered with a waxy
bloom short to medium perennial.

Stems:-
1) Ascending flowering stems 25-60 cm and shorter non-flowering shoots, both
    woody at the base.

Leaves:-
1) Greyish-green, oblong or narrowly ellipsoidal, thick but somewhat flattened on
    the upper surface, usually apiculate shortly spurred, suberect closely imbricate
    in spiral rows on the non-flowering shoots.

Flowers:-
1) Inflorescence without bracts, erect and subglobose in bud, with strongly recurved
    branches, concave in fruit.
2) Flowers 5- to 8-merous, on very short pedicels.
3) Sepals c. 2·5 mm, ovate, obtuse or mucronate, glabrous.
4) Petals 5-8 mm, patent, greenish-white or straw-coloured.
5) Stamens 10-16.

Fruit:-
1) Follicles erect, pale yellow or greenish-white.

Key features:-
1) Living leaves on non-flowering shoots not confined to a terminal cluster; dead
leaves mostly not persistent.
2) Petals spreading (patent), greenish-white to very pale yellow.
3) Sepals 2·5 mm, glabrous.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Rocky habitats on various substrates, sometimes ruderal on stone walls
of old buildings, often in the sublittoral zone, but also inland, occasionally to 900 m.

Distribution:- Throughout Greece. Mediterranean region from Portugal to Lebanon.
Limited distribution on Crete, mainly around coastal areas.

Flowering time:- May-June.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton