ACCOUNT OF GENUS SEDUM AS FOUND IN CULTIVATION. 303 



Quite the most valuable of the annual Sedums. Its mass of small, 

 sky-blue flowers (in which it stands unique) renders it most attractive, 

 and in sun the leaves and stems assume a bright-red colour, providmg 

 a striking contrast. 



Description —A small, bushy annual, a few inches high, green or, in exposure 

 suffuse'd wS red. Item ;ound,%mooth, finely hairy -b-^- J^^^J^^^VtSSf 

 branches. Leaves alternate, ovoid or oblong. ^essUe not spurred subt^^^^^^^^ 

 sUghtly flattened above, up to i to J inch long, smaller upward {fnJh^c^oL oA 

 paniculate, occupying the whole plant. Flowers 7- to 9-parted, i inch across, on 



Fig. 180. — 5. coeruleum Vahl. 



1 «o^;^^i= A(>{\PTced after flowering. Buds ovate, blunt. Calyx cup-shaped 

 wftl^fort blunt tee?h?./^^^ acute, wide-spreading. 3 tim^ the 



I,;.u h1«k vdth a white base. Stamens wide-spreading, nearly as long as the 

 pS: filam^its wM?e anthers purple. Scales small, white. Carpels erect, 

 white, turning red in fruit. 



Flowers July- August. Hardy. ^ ^ . 



Habitat.— S. Europe and N. Africa from Algeria and Corsica 



° Not ^infrequent in cultivation. In some gardens it maintains 

 itself freely by self-sown seedUngs which appear in early autumn ; 

 in others a damp, peaty, or gritty soil is found to suit it best. The 

 specific name refers to the colour of the flowers. 



