SEDUM ERIOCARPUM subsp. SPATHULIFOLIUM

Family:- CRASSULACEAE

Common Names:- None

Synonyms:- None

Meaning:- Sedum (L) A name used by the Roman naturalist and philosopher

Pliny, reference to the plants habit of ''sitting'' on rocks etc.

Eriocarpum (Gr) With woolly fruits.

Spathulifolium (L) With broadsword-shaped leaves.

General description:- Erect annual 2-15 cm, glandular-pubescent above,

somewhat covered with a waxy bloom and usually reddish.

Leaves:-

1) 10-20 mm, alternate, or in whorls of 4 below, patent, linear, semi-circular in cross

semi-terete.

Flowers:-

1) 5 petalled, sessile, in a leafy, corymbose cyme.

2) Petals 5 mm, acuminate.

3) Styles long, straight.

Fruit:-

1) Follicles usually divergent at the base but suberect in the upper part, glandular-

tuberculate.

Key features:-

1) Petals greenish-yellow.

2) Stamens 10.

3) Follicles erect.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Rocky and stony places in open dry shrubby vegetation and open

coniferous woodland. 0-1200 m. on various substrates.

Distribution:- Scattered throughout Greece, rare on Crete known only from the

west.

Flowering time:- May-Apr.

Photos by:- Fotis Samaritakis