The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

widow's cross

opposite stonecrop, orpine stonecrop, weak-stem stonecrop

Habit Herbs, annual or perennial (by formation of side shoots), rarely biennial, multi-stemmed from base, glabrous. Herbs, perennial, tufted, glabrous.
Stems

ascending, simple or branched, sometimes bearing rosettes.

decumbent, branched, bearing erect rosettes.

Flowering shoots

erect, simple, 6–23 cm;

leaf blades linear, base with 2 sagittate spurs (unique in this species);

offsets not formed.

erect, decumbent, or ascending, simple, 3–12 cm;

leaf blades ovate-elliptic, base not spurred;

offsets not formed.

Leaves

alternate, spreading, sessile;

blade pale yellow-green, not glaucous, linear to oblanceolate or spatulate, subterete, 5–32 × 1.5–5 mm, base sagittately short-spurred, not scarious, apex obtuse to rounded, (surfaces papillose in rosette).

opposite and decussate (rarely alternate), ascending, sessile;

blade pale green, speckled with pink, sometimes pink or red, glaucous, usually elliptic, oblanceolate, or obovate, sometimes ovate-elliptic, subterete, ± globular, 4.2–7.2 × 2.8–4.3 mm, base not spurred, (clasping), not scarious, apex widely rounded or sometimes weakly emarginate, (surfaces minutely papillose).

Inflorescences

cymes, 10–40-flowered, 3-branched;

branches secund or recurved, not forked;

bracts absent or similar to leaves, smaller.

cymes, 2–7-flowered, 2-branched;

branches not recurved, forked;

bracts similar to leaves, smaller.

Pedicels

to 1 mm.

to 1.2 mm.

Flowers

4(–7)-merous;

sepals erect, distinct, light green, linear-lanceolate, unequal, 1.3–5.8 × 0.5–1.5 mm, apex acute or obtuse;

petals erect or subdivergent, distinct, white to purple, narrowly linear-lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, carinate and slightly channeled basally, 4–10 mm, apex acute or obtuse;

filaments white or pinkish;

anthers red or purple;

nectar scales white, pinkish white, or yellow, square.

5-merous;

sepals erect, connate basally, pale green, glaucous, lanceolate, equal, 2–4.2 × 1.3–2 mm, apex obtuse, (papillose);

petals basally erect, distally spreading, connate basally, yellow, elliptic-lanceolate, slightly carinate, 6–9 mm, apex obtuse with mucronate appendage;

filaments yellow;

anthers yellow, (sometimes compressed and winged);

nectar scales yellow, orange-red, or salmon-pink, reniform to square.

Carpels

spreading in fruit, distinct, light brown.

erect or ascending in fruit, connate basally, straw colored with purple stripes.

2n

= 22, ca. 42.

= 14–18.

Sedum pulchellum

Sedum debile

Phenology Flowering spring–early summer. Flowering summer.
Habitat Areas of flat rocks, especially openings in cedar glades, ledges of cliffs, and bluffs, in shallow soil or in living mats of moss on rocks, often on limestone, sandstone, and chert Open, rocky places
Elevation 90-500 m (300-1600 ft) 1500-3500 m (4900-11500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; GA; IL; KS; KY; MO; MS; OH; OK; TN; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Sedum pulchellum is found in eastern North America from the Appalachian Ridge and Valley Province in northwestern Georgia and eastern Tennessee, westward through the southern Cumberland Plateau in northern Alabama and southeastern Tennessee, across the interior low plateaus of southern Illinois and central Kentucky and Tennessee, the till plains of Missouri, the Ozark plateaus of Arkansas and Missouri, and the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas and Oklahoma, to the Osage Plains of Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

The axillary, almost globular, rosettes of Sedum debile are the primary mode of propagation in this species (R. T. Clausen 1975).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 8, p. 204. FNA vol. 8, p. 211.
Parent taxa Crassulaceae > Sedum Crassulaceae > Sedum
Sibling taxa
S. acre, S. albomarginatum, S. album, S. annuum, S. borschii, S. cockerellii, S. debile, S. divergens, S. glaucophyllum, S. havardii, S. hispanicum, S. lanceolatum, S. laxum, S. leibergii, S. lineare, S. mexicanum, S. moranii, S. nanifolium, S. nevii, S. niveum, S. nuttallii, S. oblanceolatum, S. obtusatum, S. ochroleucum, S. oreganum, S. oregonense, S. praealtum, S. pusillum, S. radiatum, S. robertsianum, S. rupestre, S. rupicola, S. sarmentosum, S. sexangulare, S. spathulifolium, S. stelliforme, S. stenopetalum, S. ternatum, S. villosum, S. wrightii
S. acre, S. albomarginatum, S. album, S. annuum, S. borschii, S. cockerellii, S. divergens, S. glaucophyllum, S. havardii, S. hispanicum, S. lanceolatum, S. laxum, S. leibergii, S. lineare, S. mexicanum, S. moranii, S. nanifolium, S. nevii, S. niveum, S. nuttallii, S. oblanceolatum, S. obtusatum, S. ochroleucum, S. oreganum, S. oregonense, S. praealtum, S. pulchellum, S. pusillum, S. radiatum, S. robertsianum, S. rupestre, S. rupicola, S. sarmentosum, S. sexangulare, S. spathulifolium, S. stelliforme, S. stenopetalum, S. ternatum, S. villosum, S. wrightii
Synonyms Chetyson pulchellum, Chetyson vigilimontis, S. vigilimontis Gormania debilis
Name authority Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 277. (1803) S. Watson: Botany (Fortieth Parallel), 102. (1871)
Web links