ACCOUNT OF GENUS SEDUM AS FOUND IN CULTIVATION. 279 



136. Sedum amplexicaule DC. (figs. 163, 164, g). 

 S amplexicaule DeCsindolle. "Rapports Voyages," 2, 80 1808. Baker 

 in Card. Chron. 1877, ii. 462. Masters, ibtd. 1878. u. t2b. 

 Synonym.— S. tenuifoHum. DC. " Prodromus," 8 407- gibthorp " Flor. 



^^' A very peculiar and interesting species, more closely related to 

 5. pruinaiuM of Portugal than to any of its allies found with it along 

 the Mediterranean. The leaves of the barren shoots fade at about 

 the flowering time in early summer, leaving only the pecuhar, broad 

 sheathing bases (fig. 163, c), which enwrap the shoot and presumably 

 form a protection against drought ; in this condition the plant looks 

 dead With the rains of autumn, growth is resumed at the tip ot tne 

 shoot and during winter the clump is again covered with small glaucous 

 leaves Fig 163, b, shows a shoot in its summer condition, and a. 

 the same shoot when growth is resumed. In the shape and history of 

 its leaves the species is unique. In its flowering parts especially it 

 shows its affinity to pruinatum. In both we find the same few- 

 flowered, two-branched inflorescence with large flowers and sepals 

 with a peculiar median furrow; but in pruinatum the flowers are 

 usually straw-coloured, not golden, and the furrow less marked than 

 in amplexicaule. Wild specimens are sometimes a foot m height when 

 in flower, but in gardens the plant is mostly much smaller, and 



sometimes minute. 



Description— Small perennial, withering in summer, green for the rest of 

 the?ear //rprocumbeSt. wiry, much branched, dying off behind and forming 

 Sany rooted shoots. Barren shoots ascending i to 3 inches l^^g- ^^^'JXricate 

 2 to 6 inches high, ascending, unbranched. Leaves of barren shoots imbncate 

 glaucois lSear%erete, apiculate, recurved in the upper part, widemng at b^e 

 iKa broad, clasping membranous ^ving ; leaves of flowering shoots hnear- 

 anceolate apiculate, nearly terete, rather distant, sessile, with a short, narrow 

 adpressed'spur. Inflorescence lax. few- flowered, mostly of two wide-spreading 

 brSchi each bearing 2 to 6 flowers with a flower in the fork. Flowers Urg^. 

 4 to « iSh across 6- to lo-parted. Buds nearly \ inch long, ovate, acute, strongly 

 ribbed sSs Veen. ovL-lanceolate. very acute, with a deep median groove, 

 raised edgefand recurved tip. Petals golden-yellow, hnear-lanceolate. acute, 

 '^oovedorf ace keeled on bacl.. | inch long, thrice the -pals . S^«m.^^^^ yeUow 

 I the petals Scales small, yellow, broader than long. Carpels yellow, erect } 

 in fruit erect and large, surrounded by the persistent, erect sepals. 



Flowers June-July. Hardy. , 



Habitat.— Southern Europe from Portugal eastward, Asia 



Minor Algeria. Not uncommon in gardens. 



The specific name signifies " stem-clasping," and emphasizes the 



peculiar character of the leaves. 



SECTION VIII.— SEMPERVIVOIDES. 



Section Sempervivoides Boissier, "Flor. Orientalis." 2, 776. 

 Annual or biennial. Leaves flat, root-leaves forming a rosette. 

 Inflorescence corymbose or racemose-paniculate. Hardy or tender 

 Eurasian plants. 



