CACTUSES AND OTHER SUCCULENTS 165 



window boxes. I have seen it used thus and 

 Stay outdoors permanently. The leaves are 

 very small (one-quarter of an inch long), but 

 they are crowded closely together on the 

 stems. The foliage is a delightfully bright 

 green and in the variety aureum the shoots 

 are bright golden yellow in the spring; in 

 the variety elegans the tips and young 

 leaves are a pale silvery colour. The sedums 

 are easily propagated by seeds or by the 

 offsets which are freely produced. 



The house leeks (Sempervivum) are very 

 similar to the sedums. The commonest 

 ones are the common house leek (5. tectorum), 

 and hen-and-chickens (S. glohiferuni). Like 

 the sedums these are best grown in boxes, 

 but the plants must not be allowed to grow 

 too thickly or they will not flower. 



The most interesting one and, perhaps, the 

 best for house culture, is the spider-web 

 house leek (5. arachnoideuni). The leaves, 

 which are short and fat, are borne in rosettes 

 and between the tips of the leaves there are 

 fine, w^hite threads, like a spider's web. The 

 flowers are bright red and borne on stalks 

 three to five inches high. 



Like the sedums the house leeks are easily 



