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Sempervivum tectorum

Common name:	Houseleek	Family:	Crassulaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	17, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Original habitat is obscure but the plant is naturalized in Britain.
Habitat:	Roofs, old walls, chimneys and rocks, especially on limestone[9].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	3

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Ayegreen [H], Ayron [H], Bullock's Eye [H], Common House-leek [B], Common Houseleek [H,P], Cuvakaca [E], Djibaube [E], Donderblad [D], Haus Wachs [E], Hauswurz [E], Hen-And-Chickens [E], Hen-and-Chickens [L], Herba De Foc [E], House-leek [L], Houseleek [E,H], Jupiter's Beard [H], Jupiter's Eye [H], Kayakorugu [E], Roof Houseleek [H,E], Sengreen [H], Siempreviva Mayor [E], Thor's Beard [H],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	sempervivum = always alive;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Rosales. Stonecrop family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Austria; Belgium; Britain; Europe; Germany; Germany(Badan); Mexico; Spain; Spain(Balearic I); Turkey; Us(Pa); Ussr; Yugoslavia(Bosnia)

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen perennial growing to 0.15m by 0.2m . It is hardy to zone 4 and is not frost tender. It is in leaf all year, in flower from June to July, and the seeds ripen from July to August. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 3/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained 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

Cultivated Beds, In Walls, In South Wall, In East Wall, In West Wall.

Edible Uses

Drink; Leaves.

Young leaves and shoots - raw[9]. They can be eaten in salads[9].
The juice of the leaves is used as a refreshing drink[105, 177].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Astringent; Diuretic; Odontalgic; Refrigerant; Stings; Vulnerary; Warts.

Houseleek leaves and their juice are used for their cooling and astringent effect, being applied externally to soothe many skin conditions. As with many other remedies that are both astringent and soothing, houseleek simultaneously tightens and softens the skin.
The fresh leaves are astringent, diuretic, odontalgic, refrigerant and vulnerary[4, 9, 13, 21, 46, 61]. They are used as a poultice in much the same way as Aloe vera in the treatment of a wide range of skin diseases, burns, scalds, bites and stings etc and have also been used to get rid of warts and corns[4, 200, 238, 257]. The plant is also sometimes used internally in the treatment of shingles, skin complaints and haemorrhoids, though some care is required since in excess the plant is emetic and purgative[238]. The leaves are harvested as required and used fresh[238].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Prefers a well-drained gritty soil in full sun[200]. Succeeds in any sandy soil[1], doing well in very little soil in rock crevices, walls, paths etc so long as there is sufficient humus[200]. Established plants are very drought tolerant[4, 200] and dislike winter wet[200].
One of the many common names for this plant is rather interesting, but was too long to put in the common name entry earlier in this record. It is 'Welcome home husband, however drunk you be'.
The plant is sometimes planted in thatched roofs since it is supposed to give protection against lightning, thunderbolts and fire to any house that it grows on[100]. It is also said to preserve the thatch[4, 115]. There is some justification to this belief because the leaves contain a great deal of water and do not burn easily - if there are many of the plants growing on the roof then they will tend to put out the fire before it can take hold properly.
Individual rosettes die after flowering, but usually produce a number of offsets that continue to grow[188].
A polymorphic species, it is divided into a number of sub-species by some botanists[200].

Propagation

Seed - surface sow in early spring in a cold frame. It usually germinates in 2 - 6 weeks at 10°c. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in the summer if they have made sufficient growth, otherwise grow them on for a further year in pots before planting them out[K].
Division of offsets 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. Plants can also be divided in September but these divisions should be overwintered in a greenhouse.
Stem cuttings.

Suppliers

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

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[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 sempervivum tectorum (a possible synonym).

[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures

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.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.

[13] Triska. Dr. Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn 1975 ISBN 0-600-33545-3
Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[100] Polunin. O. Flowers of Europe - A Field Guide. Oxford University Press 1969 ISBN 0192176218
An excellent and well illustrated pocket guide for those with very large pockets. Also gives some details on plant uses.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[115] Johnson. C. P. The Useful Plants of Great Britain.
Written about a hundred years ago, but still a very good guide to the useful plants of Britain.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[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.

[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.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

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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.
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