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. albomarginatum R.T. Clausen

FEATHER RIVER STONECROP

Plant 14–25 cm, glabrous, glaucous; rosettes 3–9 cm diam, internodes between leaves < 3 mm
Leaves: rosette leaves 14–60 mm (widest 6–9 mm from tip), ± 1–4 mm thick, rounded or barely notched; cauline leaves 14–30 mm, base truncate or obtuse
Inflorescence 4–10 cm, 20–55-flowered
Flower: petals ± 7–10 mm, obovate, light yellow, obtuse or minutely and abruptly pointed; anthers yellow or red-brown
Fruit 7–9 mm, erect
Seed 1–1.2 mm
Chromosomes: n=15
Ecology: Steep serpentine slopes
Elevation: 300–900 m.
Bioregional distribution: n Sierra Nevada Foothills (Plumas Co.)
Horticultural information: In cultivation.