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. stenopetalum Pursh

Plant 5–27 cm, glabrous, often with bulblets in place of upper leaves and flowers
Leaf 6–16 mm, generally ± lanceolate, long-tapered, base scarious, often ± 3-lobed
Inflorescence raceme-like, generally ± 1.5 cm, 1–44-flowered
Flower: petals 4–10 mm, lanceolate, long-tapered, yellow (or midrib ± red); anthers yellow or light brown
Fruit 5–8 mm, ± erect
Seed ± 1 mm
Chromosomes: n=8,16,24
Ecology: Well-drained, rocky or gravelly soil
Elevation: 1400–2600 m.
Bioregional distribution: Klamath Ranges, Cascade Range, n High Sierra Nevada, Modoc Plateau
Distribution outside California: to British Columbia, Montana
Synonyms: subsp. monanthum (Suksd.) R.T. Clausen
Horticultural information: DRN: 4, 5, 6, 17 &IRR: 1, 2, 7, 14, 15, 16.