SEDUM AMPLEXICAULE subsp. TENUIFOLIUM

Family:- CRASSULACEAE

Common Names:- None

Synonyms:- Petrosedum tenuifolium, Sedum amplexicaule subsp. tenuifolium

Sedum tenuifolium, Sempervivum tenuifolium.

Meaning:- Sedum (L) A name used by the Roman naturalist and philosopher

Pliny, reference to the plants habit of ''sitting'' on rocks etc.

Amplexicaule (Gr) Embracing the stem (the base of the leaf).

Tenuifolium (L) Slender leaved, with narrow leaves.

General description:- Slender perennial with ascending non-flowering shoots.

Stems:-

1) Flowering 7-20 cm, erect.

Leaves:-

1) Grey-green, erect, imbricate, terete, glaucous leaves, tapered to a long, filiform

apex, and expanded at the base into a broad, amplexicaul, 3-lobed spur.

2) In midsummer those on the lower part of the shoot withered; those near the apex

persistent as a compact, summer-dormant bud which unfolds and roots in

autumn.

3) Flowering stems 7-20 cm, erect; leaves less crowded and with a smaller spur.

Flowers:-

1) 5- to 8(-12)-merous, rather few, subsessile, in lax, unilateral bracteate cymes

drooping in bud.

2) Petals 6-8 mm, yellow with red mid-vein.

3) Stamens 10-16(-24).

Fruit:-

1) Follicles yellow, erect.

Key features:-

1) Flowers 6- to 9-merous, few, in lax, unilateral cymes.

2) Non-flowering shoots in midsummer leafless except for a terminal summer-

dormant bud.

3) Leaves of the non-flowering shoots amplexicaul, with a broad, 3-lobed, hyaline

spur,

4) Petals 6-8 mm.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Rocky outcrops in meadows and open woodland, road embankments,

usually on limestone. (0-)400-1600(-2100) m.

Distribution:- Widespread and common throughout the Mediterranean. Widespread

and common on Crete, but mainly around the massifs.

Flowering time:- May-July.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton