142 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS 



Sedum annuum L. 



Annual. Quite glabrous and very small. Leaves slender, linear 

 or sometimes cylindrical, green. Flowers in elongated cymes, 

 yellow. Sepals obtuse. 



Dry, stony places and rocks of primary formation up to 8200 feet. 

 July, August. 



Distribution. Nearly all Europe, Western Asia, Greenland. 

 Sedum roseum Scop. (Rhodiola rosea L.). Rose-root. 



Robust, 6-12 inches high. Rootstock tuberous and thick, with 

 scent of roses. Buds scaly. Stem simple, erect, very leafy. Leaves 

 ovate-elliptical, serrate towards the apex, densely crowded. Flowers 

 small, greenish yellow or reddish, unisexual and dioecious. 



Primary rocks, 4000-8000 feet ; local. July, August. 



Distribution. Central and Northern Europe, Siberia, Himalaya, 

 N.America. British. Canadian Rockies, 7000 feet. (E.Whymper.) 



SEMPERVIVUM L. 



Robust fleshy herbs, with perfect flowers in panicled or corymbose 

 cymes. Petals and calyx-teeth 6 or more, the petals being distinct or 

 connate. Stamens generally twice as many as petals. Carpels 

 free or connate, adnate to calyx-tube, many-seeded. 



About 50 species, inhabiting Europe, Asia, and Africa. 



Sempervivum tectorum L. House-leek. 



Rosettes large, and whole plant robust and often a foot or more 

 high. Rosette leaves suddenly narrowed into a mucro ; stem-leaves 

 broadly linear, spreading. Petals lanceolate or linear, twice as long 

 as calyx-teeth, pink. 



Rocks, especially limestone, up to 8200 feet. June to August. 



Distribution. Europe, especially central ; Caucasus, Persia. 



Naturalised in Britain, and generally in Europe, except in the 

 Alps. It was formerly planted on roofs and walls as a supposed pro- 

 tection against lightning. 



Sempervivum arachnoideum L. 



Rosettes with lanceolate or obovate leaves, abruptly acute, 

 covered with short glandular hairs, stiffly ciliated, bearded at the 

 apex, with radiating, spider's web-like hairs, uniting the ends of 

 the leaves. Petals narrowly lanceolate, acuminate, 3 times as long 

 as the calyx, rose-red, sometimes with a darker streak. The stem 

 and stem-leaves often reddish. 



Rocks of the Alps and sub-Alps, 4000-9500 feet ; widely spread 

 but local, and much rarer on limestone than siliceous rock, e.g. it has 

 not been recorded from the whole range of the Jura, where its place 

 is taken on the Reculet, etc., by a somewhat similar species, 5. Fau- 

 conneti Reuter, intermediate (though not a hybrid) between this 

 and S. montanum. 



