ACCOUNT OF GENUS SEDUM AS FOUND IN CULTIVATION. 267 



ILLUSTRATIONS.-Sowerby, "English Bot." ed. 3. pl- 536. Reichenbach, 

 "Flor. German.," 23, tab. 61. 



This common plant, though variable, can without difficulty be 

 separated from its allies of the mpesire section. The mflorescence 

 drooping in bud separates it from all but re-fiexum : the leaves flat 

 on face divide it from reflexum and anofetalum ; the subglobular 

 young inflorescence is shared only by reftexum and altisstmum among 

 its alUes. In its stems, shaggy below with withered leaves, it is 

 matched only by Douglasii. 



Description.— An evergreen creeping perennial, forming a mat, usually 

 daucJus S «n5 creeping, much branched, branches ascendmg, shaggy with 

 SheredleavS^elow, densely leafy above ; barren branches short with ascendmg 

 tiDs flowering branches with less crowded leaves, 6 to 12 inches high, drooping 

 fn hud Uaves of barren shoots linear to linear-oblanceolate. i to f ^ch long 

 by -^ nch broad, sessile, apiculate, fleshy, flattish on face, rounded on back 

 vlry^ciowded towards the tip of the shoots, where they ^^^^ J^X 's^ur^ed 

 those of the flowering shoots lanceolate, ascending more disto^^^y J"5!^^ 

 Inflorescence an umbellate cyme of about 5 forked ^ran^^es^ witii a few bracts 

 at the primary branching; subglobose in bud owing to the reflexure of the 

 branches Tattish in full flower, hollow-topped in fruit owing to the straightening 

 out^d ^owth of the branches. Buds oval, with straight sides, slxongly ribbed. 

 Flowers nearly \ inch across, mostly 5- (often 6- to 8-) parted. Pedicels slender, 

 shorter than the flowers. Sepals tariangular, longer than broad, nearly free, 

 only slightly fleshy, green, persistent in fruit. Petals oblong-lmear blunt, con- 

 cave, golden yeuJW^wideVeading, more than twice the sepals. Stamens 

 yellow, spreading, equalling the petals. Scales small, yellow, quadrate. Carpels ■ 

 yellow, erect in flower and fruit. 



Flowers July. Hardy. 



Habitat.— West Europe, from Spain to Germany. Naturahzed 

 in some parts of the British Isles, where it is an old and familiar 

 garden plant ; possibly native in the west. 



Though not so variable as its near aUy S. reflexum, it shows a 

 considerable range as regards size and colour. The plant is always 

 recognizable by its crowded linear leaves quite flat on the upper surface. 

 In size it ranges from robust to slender and about half the size (var. 

 minus auct.), and in colour from purple-glaucous tipped with red to 

 uniform green. The var. Forsterianum (S. Forsterianum Smith, 

 " English Bot." 26, pi. 1802) is a slender green form with inflorescence 

 rather round-topped instead of fiat. In a large series of cultivated 

 forms which I got together in my garden, the green forms were all 

 of small size, and so far agreed with Forsterianum, but the inflorescence 

 character was not constant. The smallest forms which I met with 

 were glaucous like the type. 



Rouy and Camus (" Flore de France," 7, iii) admit several varieties 

 [Lejeunii, aureum, Trevirense), in which the principal character is 

 the shape of the barren shoot ; but this depends largely on questions 

 of soil, situation, and condition, as the leaves tend to extend widely 

 in shade or moisture, and to close up into a dense, egg-shaped mass 

 in exposure or drought ; so the shape of the shoots is an awkward 

 character to use for diagnostic purposes. For ordinary purposes 

 var. Forsterianum (the small slender green form) and var. minus 

 (glaucous like the type but much smaller in all its parts) alone seems 

 worth distinguishing. 



