46 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



8. Sedum purpureovirlde Praeger (fig. 15). 



5. purpureovirlde Praeger in Journ. of Bot., 54, 40, 1917. 



An interesting species, readily diagnosed by the glandular- 

 pubescence of the stem and of the under-side of the oblong-lanceolate 

 gre5nsh-green toothed leaves, and by its purple and green usually 

 dioecious flowers. 



Description. — A dioecious (sometimes hermaphrodite) herbaceous perennial. 

 Rootstock erect, thick (about J inch diameter), branched, aerial. Stems several 

 from the summit of the rootstock, erect, annual, unbranched, 8-12 inches long, 

 leafy throughout, round, whitish, densely pubescent with short glandular hairs ; 

 barren stems absent. Leaves many, alternate, patent or reflexed, increasing 

 in size from base to apex of stem, up to i inch long by J inch wide, narrowly 

 oblong-lanceolate, rather acute, sessile, rounded at base, edges lightly toothed 

 and reflexed, upper surface glabrous, of a dull dark greyish-green with a pale 

 midrib, lower surface pale, glandular-pubescent especially on the much-raised 

 midrib. Inflorescence a rather dense umbellate cyme, leafy, many-flowered, 

 i-ij inch across, surface convex ; becoming concave, lax, and very leafy before 

 fading, owing to growth of the branches and leaf-like bracts. Buds obovate 

 to sub-globular, angular, rather apiculate. Flowers mostly 5-parted ; pedicels 

 slender, twice as long as the buds, very glandular. Male flowers : — ^ inch 

 across ; sepals oblong-lanceolate, blunt, fleshy, green, wide-spreading, forming 

 an open cup ; petals linear-oblanceolate, blunt, very concave on face both 

 longitudinally and transversely, patent or somewhat reflexed, green with a 

 purple base, twice the sepals ; stamens ascending, equalling or slightly exceeding 

 the petals, filaments purple, anthers pale orange-red ; scales large, purple, arching, 

 the tips deflexed, convex on face both longitudinally and transversely, emarginate, 

 twice as long as broad, slightly wider upwards ; carpels very small, erect, dark 

 green. HermapiHioditb flower : — similar to the male as regards size and 

 shape of sepals, petals, stamens, and scales ; carpels erect, green, the slender 

 styles occupying nearly half their length, slightly shorter than the stamens. 



Flowers May. Hardy. 



Habitat. — Yunnan, where it has been collected several times 

 (for particulars see Journ. of Botany, 54, 40, 1917). All the available 

 material belongs to male plants, with the exception of one specimen 

 in the Edinburgh Herbarium, which is hermaphrodite. My descrip- 

 tion is drawn up miinly from Uving plants received from Edinburgh 

 several years ago, under the name " Sedum sp. Yunnan, Forrest," 

 which began to flower with me in 1916. No further particulars 

 relative to these specimens are available. The drawings are made 

 from the living plant, excepting those of the hermaphrodite flower 

 which is from the Edinburgh specimen referred to above. 



Named from the colour of its flowers. 



9. Sedum bupleuroides Wallich (fig. 16). 



S. bupleuroides Wallich Catalogue, No. 7229, 1828. Hooker fil. 

 and Thomson in Journ. Linn. Soc, Bot., 2, 98. Clarke in 

 Hooker. " Flor. Brit. India," 2, 418. 



A very distinct plant, with the characteristic, much-thickened 

 rootstock and unisexual flowers of Rhodiola ; they are dark red- 

 purple and small. S. bupleuroides shows a smaller range of variation 

 than the majority of the Rhodiolas, and is generally immediately 



