211 



NOTES ON SEDUM. 

 Bt E. Llotd Praeger. 



Sedum aeboreum Masters in Garcl. Chron. 1878, ii. 717. 



Masters found this plant in cultivation at Kevv and elsewhere 

 labelled Sedinn arhoreum or S. arhorescens, and described it under 

 the former name, though this was already occupied by a plant of 

 Ortega's ( = CrassiiIa jyortiilacecf Lam.). Its habitat was unknown, 

 and no fresh light appears to have been thrown upon it since. Under 

 the name S. arhoreum a Sedum which is clearly Masters's plant is 

 still in cultivation ; this is obviously a form of the Mexican S. moran- 

 ense H. B. K. {S. Jjiebmannianum et ^. Greggii hort. nonnulL, nee 

 Hemsley). 'S'. moranense appears to be one of the hardiest species 

 in the wdiole Mexican Sedum flora, and survives ordinary Avinters 

 throughout the British Isles, so far as I am aware. aS'. arhoreum as 

 found in gardens differs considerably in appearance from >S'. moran- 

 ense type, and though the differences are chiefly due to habit, it 

 seems worthy of varietal rank, as follows : — - 



S. moranense H. B. K. var. aeboeeum (Masters) Praeger, 

 nov. comb. 



Stem erect ; branches fastigiate (not wide-spreading as in the 

 type), with a tendency to fasciation at the tips. Plant 15-30 cm. 

 high (instead of 5-8 cm. as in type), forming a small strict bush 

 with a single stem up to 5 mm. thick (instead of a low loose mass 

 frequently rooting, as in the type). 



Masters's description would appear to apply to a form somewhat 

 intermediate between the type and the variety, but as he mentions 

 the curious tendency to fasciation (which I have never seen in the 

 type, though I have received and grown it from many sources), and 

 as the name ^. arhoreum is applied in gardens to the variety, I have 

 retained Masters's name for this foi-m. 



A fine specimen in the Kew Herbarium collected by C. G. Pringle 

 at 10,000 feet in Sierra de Pachuca, shows that var. arhoreum is a 

 'native Mexican form. 



Sedum Beyrichianum Masters in Oard. Chron. 1878, ii. 376. 



Masters {I. c.) described under the name S. Beyrichiaimm a plant 

 from an unspecified garden source, stating that the name appeared in 

 several nursery catalogues. The plant is described as resembling 

 >S', Nevii, but having petals no longer than the sepals (instead of 

 twice as long, as in JSfevii) ; the leaves are stated to be narrower, and 

 the flowers exceedingly small, \ inch diameter (against nearl}^ | inch 

 in Nevii). No fresh light has been forthcoming regarding this 

 plant during the intervening period for nearly forty years. 



There is in the Kew Herbarium a specimen certified hj N. E. 

 Browm as being identical with Masters's original Beyricliianum 

 (which Masters would appear to have seen at Kew). This plant is 

 also identical with that which is still to be seen in cultivation here 

 and there as *S'. Beyricliianum, which I have received and grown 

 from three sources — Messrs. Hegel & Kesselring of Petrograd, 



