Menu list goes here

Herbal Database Search Results

Back to: Pathways Main Search Page For Metaphysical uses visit The Witchs Haven

Sedum spurium

Common name:	Caucasian Stonecrop	Family:	Crassulaceae
Author:	M.Bieb.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:	Sedum lazicum, Sedum denticulatum, Sedum dentatum, Sedum crenatum, Sedum congestum, Sedum ciliare
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	E. Europe - Caucasus. A garden escape in Britain[50].
Habitat:	Rocks in moist regions in the middle and upper alpine zones[83].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	S. spurium var. coccineum[G] Spathulata spuria[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Caucasian Stonecrop [L], Roze Vetkruid [D], Two-row Stonecrop [B,L], Tworow Stonecrop [P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	spurium = false
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Rosales. Stonecrop family

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen perennial growing to 0.15m by 0.5m . It is hardy to zone 7 and is not frost tender. It is in leaf all year, in flower from July to August, and the seeds ripen from August to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Habitats and Possible Locations

In Walls, In South Wall, In East Wall, In West Wall, Ground Cover.

Edible Uses

Leaves.

Leaves - raw or cooked. The leaves are thick and juicy but somewhat astringent and with a slight bitterness[K].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

Ground cover.

Can be used as a ground cover plant in a sunny position[197, 208]. It requires weeding for the first year or so[197].

Cultivation details

Succeeds in most soils[188] but prefers a fertile well-drained soil in a sunny position[200]. Established plants are drought tolerant[200]. Tolerates poor soils.
Hardy to about -5° c[200].
A mat-forming plant, it is very invasive[83].
The flowers of this species are white or pink[200]. All members of this genus are said to have edible leaves, though those species that have yellow flowers can cause stomach upsets if they are eaten in quantity[62, 85].
Plants in this genus seem to be immune to the predations of rabbits[233].

Propagation

Seed - surface sow in spring in well-drained soil in a sunny position in a greenhouse. Do not allow the soil to dry out. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle. If sufficient growth is made, it is possible to plant them out during the summer, otherwise keep them in a cold-frame or greenhouse for their first winter and plant them out in early summer of the following year[K].
Division is very easy and can be carried out at almost any time in the growing season, though is probably best done in spring or early summer. Larger divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions. We have found it best to pot up the smaller divisions and grow them on in a lightly shaded position in a cold frame, planting them out once they are well established in the summer.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Crassulaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[50] ? Flora Europaea Cambridge University Press 1964
An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader.

[62] Elias. T. and Dykeman. P. A Field Guide to N. American Edible Wild Plants. Van Nostrand Reinhold 1982 ISBN 0442222009
Very readable.

[83] Evans. R. L. Handbook of Cultivated Sedums. Science Reviews 1983
Deals with the genus Sedum. Fairly easy reading, it gives cultivation details and some notes on habitats.

[85] Harrington. H. D. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press 1967 ISBN 0-8623-0343-9
A superb book. Very readable, it gives the results of the authors experiments with native edible plants.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[197] Royal Horticultural Society. Ground Cover Plants. Cassells. 1989 ISBN 0-304-31089-1
A handy little booklet from the R.H.S.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[208] Thomas. G. S. Plants for Ground Cover J. M. Dent & Sons 1990 ISBN 0-460-12609-1
An excellent detailled book on the subject, very comprehensive.

[233] Thomas. G. S. Perennial Garden Plants J. M. Dent & Sons, London. 1990 ISBN 0 460 86048 8
A concise guide to a wide range of perennials. Lots of cultivation guides, very little on plant uses.

Readers Comments

Sedum spurium

Klaus Dichtel (klaussss@web.de) Fri Jan 4 19:32:42 2002

OK, it is hardy in zone 7, OK, it has green leaves all year and they are edible. But after -7°C only the youngest 4 leaves on the tips of the branches are still green and unrotten. They are only together about 6 mm in diameter and it doesn´t make sense to harvest them, because they`re so fiddly.

Details of Growing Condition: Lower Sachsony.Sandy soil. 650mm/year rain. plants in a herb-mulch.

Main Search Page Help Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Sedum+spurium
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Sedum+spurium

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
(You can copy, distribute, display this works but: Attribution is required, its for Non-Commercial purposes, and it's Share Alike (GNUish/copyleft) i.e. has an identical license.)
We also ask that you let us know (michael@thewitchshaven.com) if you link to, redistribute, make a derived work or do anything groovy with this information.

Pathways Home :: View Cart :: Shipping & Returns :: Contact Us :: Privacy Policy :: Philosophy :: The Witchs Haven

We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.