CRASSULACEAE

STONECROP FAMILY

Annual to subshrubs, fleshy
Leaves generally simple, generally basal and cauline, alternate or opposite, generally reduced upward
Inflorescence: generally cyme, generally bracted
Flower: sepals generally 3–5, generally ± free; petals generally 3–5, ± free or fused; stamens = to >> sepals, free or epipetalous; pistils generally 3–5, simple (sometimes fused at base), ovary 1-chambered, placenta 1, parietal, ovules 1–many, style 1
Fruit: follicles generally 3–5
Seeds 1–many, small
Genera in family: ± 30 genera, ± 1500 species: ± worldwide, especially dry temp; many cultivated for ornamental. Family description and generic key by Melinda F. Denton and Reid Moran.

SEDUM

Melinda F. Denton

Generally per from rhizomes or stout, scaly caudex, generally glabrous
Leaves sessile, generally alternate, generally obovate to spoon-shaped
Inflorescence generally raceme- to panicle-like
Flower: sepals 4–5, free to fused below, < petals, obtuse to long-tapered; petals 4–5, free or fused below, erect to spreading; stamens 8 or 10, in 2 whorls, barely epipetalous; pistils 4–5, free or fused below,
Fruit erect or spreading
Seeds many, elliptic, often winged at both ends
Etymology: (Latin: to assuage, from healing properties of houseleek, to which Sedum was applied by some authors)
Reference: [Denton 1982 Brittonia 34:48–77]

Native

S. eastwoodiae (Britton) A. Berger

RED MOUNTAIN STONECROP

Plant 7–19 cm, glabrous; rosettes 1–6 cm diam, internodes between leaves < 3 mm
Leaves: rosette leaves 10–29 mm, widest ± 6 mm below tip, 2–5 mm thick, rounded to barely notched; cauline leaves 4–17 mm, base truncate to rounded
Inflorescence ± 2–7 cm, 10–26-flowered, sometimes flat-topped
Flower: petals 6–9 mm, obovate, acute, dark pink to dark red; anthers light red or ± red-purple
Fruit ± 8 mm, erect
Seed 1.1–1.8 mm
Chromosomes: n=30
Ecology: Serpentine soils among rocks
Elevation: 600–1200 m.
Bioregional distribution: c Outer North Coast Ranges (Red Mtn, Mendocino Co.)
Synonyms: S. laxum subsp. e. (Britton) R.T. Clausen
Horticultural information: In cultivation.