Sempervivum Funckii 



NOT unlike the Mountain House-leek photographed on the 

 previous page is Sempervivum Funckii. It is not a common 

 plant, being only found in Eastern Switzerland, the Tyrol, 

 the Carpathians, and a few other mountainous districts, and 

 does not seem to have acquired any local name. Compared 

 with the Mountain House-leek the rosettes of leaves are a 

 little smaller. They are covered with much longer hairs, 

 which are not, however, twisted together into a spider's web 

 like those of the Cobweb House-leek. As will be seen the 

 flowers are of a beautiful pale pink colour, and each petal has 

 a stripe of a darker tint running down its centre. The 

 plant grows in rocky places. 



The Common House-leek (Sempervivum tectorum), which 

 is often seen in England growing on old walls and on cottage 

 roofs, where it is supposed to protect from lightning, is also 

 found in Switzerland. It is fairly common in dry, rocky 

 places, and ascends from the plains to 7000 feet. Its purple 

 flowers are not unlike those of Sempervivum Funckii, but its 

 wedge-shaped rosette leaves are only provided with hairs 

 along their margins, and are armed with sharp spines at their 

 extremities. It is, moreover, a much larger plant. The 

 rosette leaves of Sempervivum Wulfeni, another Alpine 

 species, are very like those of the Common House-leek, but 

 the plant is readily distinguished by its yellow or greenish- 

 yellow flowers. It grows on primary rock between 6000 and 

 8000 feet, and is rather uncommon. 



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