Sedum is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, members of which
are commonly known as stonecrops.
The genus has been described as containing up to 600 species of leaf succulents that
are found throughout the Northern Hemisphere, varying from annual and creeping herbs to
shrubs.
The plants have water-storing leaves.
The flowers usually have five petals, seldom four or six.
There are typically twice as many stamens as petals.
A number of species, formerly classified as Sedum, are now a separate genus Hylotelephium.
Well known European Sedums are Sedum acre, Sedum album, Sedum dasyphyllum, Sedum reflexum
and Sedum hispanicum.
Uses Ornamental
Many sedums are cultivated as garden plants, due to their interesting and attractive appearance
and hardiness.
The various species differ in their requirements; some are cold-hardy but do not tolerate heat,
some require heat but do not tolerate cold.
Numerous hybrid cultivars have been developed, of which the following have gained the Royal
Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:- 'Herbstfreude'
'Bertram Anderson' 'Matrona'
'Ruby Glow' As food
The leaves of most stonecrops are edible, excepting Sedum rubrotinctum, although toxicity
has also been reported in some other species.
Sedum reflexum, known as "prickmadam", "stone orpine", or "crooked yellow stonecrop", is
occasionally used as a salad leaf or herb in Europe, including the United Kingdom.
It has a slightly astringent sour taste.
Sedum divergens, known as "spreading stonecrop", was eaten by First Nations people in Northwest
British Columbia.
The plant is used as a salad herb by the Haida and the Nisga'a people.
It is common in the Nass Valley of British Columbia.
Biting Stonecrop contains high quantities of piperidine alkaloids-sedridine,-sedamine,
sedinone and isopelletierine), which give it a sharp, peppery, acrid taste and make
it somewhat toxic.
Traditional S. acre was used to treat epilepsy and skin
disease, as well as an abortifacient in ancient Greece.
Outright consumption may cause irritations of the mucous membranes, cramps, paralysis,
and respiratory paralysis.
Roofing Sedum can be used to provide a roof covering
in green roofs, where they are preferred to grasses.
Ford's Dearborn Truck Plant’s living roof has 10.4 acres of sedum.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars plant in Goodwood, England, has a 22,500 square metres roof complex
covered in Sedum, the largest in the United Kingdom.
Nintendo of America's roof is covered in some 75,000 square feet of Sedum.
Ecology Sedum species are used as food plants by the
larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Grey Chi.
In particular, Sedum spathulifolium is the host plant of the endangered San Bruno elfin
butterfly of San Mateo County, California.
Taxonomy Sedum demonstrates a wide variation in chromosome
numbers, and polyploidy is common.
Chromosome number is an important taxonomic feature.
Species Linnaeus originally described 16 species of
European Sedum.
There are now thought to be approximately 55 European species.
Sedum acre L. – Wall-pepper, Goldmoss Sedum, Goldmoss Stonecrop, Biting Stonecrop
Sedum actinocarpum Sedum aetnense Tin.
Sedum aizoon – Aizoon Stonecrop Sedum alamosanum
Sedum albomarginatum Clausen – Feather River Stonecrop
Sedum album L. – White Stonecrop Sedum alfredii
Sedum allantoides Sedum allantoides var.
goldii
Sedum alpestre Vill.
Sedum alsinefolium Sedum amplexicaule DC.
Sedum anacampseros – Love-restorer Sedum andegavense
Sedum anglicum – English Stonecrop Sedum annuum L. – Annual Stonecrop
Sedum aoikon Sedum apoleipon 't Hart
Sedum atratum L. – Dark Stonecrop Sedum australe
Sedum backebergii Sedum baileyi
Sedum barbeyi Sedum batallae
Sedum batesii Sedum beauverdii
Sedum bellum Sedum bergeri
Sedum bithynicum – Turkish sedum Sedum blepharophyllum
Sedum bonnieri Sedum booleanum
Sedum borissovae Sedum borschii
Sedum botteri Sedum bourgaei
Sedum brandtiana Sedum brevifolium
Sedum bulbiferum Sedum burrito – Baby Burro's-tail
Sedum caducum Sedum caeruleum
Sedum caespitosum DC.
Sedum calcaratum Sedum calcicola
Sedum candolleanum Sedum candollei
Sedum catorce Sedum cauticola
Sedum celatum Sedum celiae
Sedum cepaea L. – Pink Stonecrop Sedum cespitosum
Sedum chazaroi P.Carrillo & J.A.
Lomelí Sedum chauveaudii
Sedum chihuahuense Sedum chingtungense
Sedum chloropetalum Sedum chrysicaulum
Sedum chuhsingense Sedum clausenii
Sedum clavatum Sedum clavifolium
Sedum cockerellii Britt.
– Cockerell's Stonecrop Sedum commixtum
Sedum compactum Sedum compressum
Sedum concarpum Sedum confertiflorum
Sedum confusum – Lesser Mexican-stonecrop Sedum conzattii
Sedum confertiflorum Boiss.
Sedum copalense Sedum cormiferum
Sedum correptum Sedum corynephyllum
Sedum constantinii Sedum craigii
Sedum crassularia Sedum cremnophila
Sedum cremnophila Sedum creticum Presl
Sedum cryptomerioides Sedum cupressoides
Sedum cuspidatum Sedum cyaneum
Sedum cymatophyllum Sedum cyprium
Sedum daigremontanum Sedum dasyphyllum L. – Thick-leaved Stonecrop
Sedum debile S.Watson – Orpine Stonecrop, Weakstem Stonecrop
Sedum decipiens Sedum decumbens
Sedum dendroideum Moc.
& Sessé ex A.DC.
– Tree Stonecrop Sedum didymocalyx
Sedum dielsii Sedum diffusum S.Watson
Sedum diminutum Sedum demorhpophyllum
Sedum dispermum Sedum divergens S.Watson – Spreading Stonecrop
Sedum dongzhiense Sedum drymarioides
Sedum dugueyi Sedum dulcinomen
Sedum eastwoodiae Berger – Red Mountain Stonecrop
Sedum ellacombeanum – Stonecrop Sedum ewersii
Sedum erythrostictum syn.
Hylotelephium erythrostictum Sedum fosterianum – Rock Stonecrop
Sedum furfuraceum Sedum glaucophyllum Clausen – Cliff Stonecrop
Sedum grisebachii Boiss.
& Heldr Sedum havardii Rose – Havard's Stonecrop
Sedum hirsutum Sedum hispanicum L. – Spanish Stonecrop
Sedum hybridum – Hybrid Stonecrop Sedum iaconicum Boiss.
Sedum integrifolium Entireleaf Stonecrop Sedum iwarenge
Sedum japonicum – Tokyo Sun Stonecrop Sedum kamtschaticum Fisch.
& C.A.Mey.
– Orange Stonecrop, Kamschatka Stonecrop Sedum kostovii
Sedum kamtschaticum cv.
'Weihenstephaner Gold'
Sedum lampusae Boiss.
Sedum lanceolatum Torr.
– Lance-leaf Stonecrop, Lanceleaf Stonecrop, Spearleaf Stonecrop
Sedum laxum Berger – Roseflower Stonecrop Sedum leibergii Britt.
– Leiberg Stonecrop Sedum liebmannianum
Sedum lineare – Needle Stonecrop Sedum litoreum Guss.
Sedum lucidum Sedum lydium – Least Stonecrop
Sedum magellense Ten.
Sedum makinoi Golden Japanese Sedum Sedum maximum
Sedum mexicanum Britt.
– Mexican Stonecrop Sedum microstachyum Boiss.
– Small-spiked stonecrop Sedum moranense – Red Stonecrop
Sedum moranense Kunth – Red Stonecrop Sedum moranii Clausen – Rogue River Stonecrop
Sedum morganianum – Donkey Tail, Burro Tail Sedum multiceps – Pygmy Joshua Tree, Dwarf
Joshua Tree Sedum nanifolium Fröd.
– Dwarf Stonecrop Sedum nevii Gray – Nevius' Stonecrop
Sedum niveum A.Davids.
– Davidson's Stonecrop Sedum nussbaumerianum Bitter, syn.
Sedum adolphi – Golden Sedum Sedum nuttallianum Raf.
– Yellow Stonecrop Sedum oblanceolatum Clausen – Oblongleaf
Stonecrop Sedum obtusatum Gray – Sierra Stonecrop
Sedum obtusatum ssp.
paradisum Denton – Paradise Stonecrop
Sedum ochroleucum Chaix – European Stonecrop Sedum oreganum Nutt.
– Oregon Stonecrop Sedum oregonense M.E.Peck – Cream Stonecrop
Sedum pachyphyllum Sedum pallescens
Sedum pallidum Bieb.
Sedum palmeri Sedum paradisum Denton – Canyon Creek Stonecrop
Sedum pinetorum Brandeg.
– Pine City Stonecrop Sedum plumbizincicola Wu, Liu, Zhou, Guo,
Bi, Guo, Baker, Smith & Luo, 2013 Sedum porphyreum Kotschy – Purple stonecrop
Sedum praealtum DC.
– Greater Mexican stonecrop, Green Cockscomb Sedum pulchellum Michx.
– Widow's-cross Sedum pusillum Michx.
– Granite Stonecrop Sedum radiatum S.Watson – Coast Range Stonecrop
Sedum reflexum – Reflexed Stonecrop, Blue Stonecrop, Jenny's Stonecrop, Prick-madam
Sedum reptans Sedum rubens L.
Sedum rubrotinctum – Pork and Beans, Christmas Cheer, Jellybeans
Sedum rubrotinctum cv.
'Aurora'
Sedum rupicola G.N.Jones – Curvedleaf Stonecrop Sedum rupicolum G.N.Jones
Sedum samium Runemark & Greuter Sedum sarmentosum Bunge – Stringy Stonecrop
Sedum sediforme Pau Pale Stonecrop Sedum sexangulare – Tasteless Stonecrop
Sedum sieboldii – Siebold's stonecrop Sedum smallii
Sedum spathulifolium Hook.
– Broadleaf Stonecrop, Colorado Stonecrop Sedum spurium – Caucasian Stonecrop, Dragon's
Blood Sedum, Two-row Stonecrop Sedum stahlii – Coral Beads
Sedum stefco Stef.
Sedum stellatum L. – Starry Stonecrop Sedum stelliforme S.Watson – Huachuca Mountain
Stonecrop Sedum stenopetalum Pursh – Wormleaf Stonecrop,
Yellow Stonecrop Sedum stoloniferum Gmel.
– Lesser Caucasian Stonecrop, Stolon Stonecrop Sedum telephium L.
Sedum ternatum Michx.
– Woodland Stonecrop Sedum takesimense
Sedum torulosum Sedum tristriatum Boiss.
& Heldr.
Sedum tuberiferum Stoj.
& Stef.
Sedum tymphaeum Quezel & Contandriopoulos Sedum uniflorum
Sedum urvillei DC.
Sedum valens Sedum villosum – Hairy Stonecrop, Purple
Stonecrop Sedum weinbergii
Sedum wrightii Gray – Wright's Stonecrop Formerly placed here
Now in Dudleya: Dudleya caespitosa
Dudleya edulis Now in Hylotelephium:
Hylotelephium spectabile Hylotelephium telephioides
Hylotelephium telephium Now in Rhodiola:
Rhodiola rhodantha Rhodiola rosea
Rhodiola pachyclados References
External links Media related to Sedum at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Sedum at Wikispecies Drought Smart Plants
Sedum Society Sedum