Sedum hispanicum, the Spanish stonecrop,[1] is a species of plant in the family Crassulaceae.

Description

Annual, 5–15 cm, glabrous or somewhat pubescent. Stems branching. Leaves alternate, 7–10 mm, linear, rounded. Flowers usually 6-merous, sometimes 7-9-merous, in unilateral cymes. Sepals ovate-acute. Petals white, with a purple midrib, 5–7 mm, lanceolate, acuminate. Carpels stellate.

Flowering

March–June.

Habitat

Rocks.

Distribution

In Dikti

Coast, lower, middle and upper mountains, Beqaa, Antilebanon.

Geographic area

Syria, Lebanon, the Palestine region, Western Asia, the Balkans, Italy, and Switzerland.

Notwithstanding its specific name this stonecrop is not found in Spain. Sedum is the Latin name of the adjoining genus, Sempervivum, houseleek. It is derived from sedare, to appease, to tranquillize, since the houseleek cultivated on housetops was supposed to take away the thunder, or probably because the crushed leaves used in plasters have a sedative action.[2]

References

  1. ^ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Sedum hispanicum". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  2. ^ Mustapha Nehmeh, Wild Flowers Of Lebanon, National Council For Scientific Research,1978,pages 175,176.
  • Georges Tohme& Henriette Tohme, IIIustrated Flora of Lebanon, National Council For Scientific Research, Second Edition 2014.