Flora of North America species comparison

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Sedum spathulifolium

Sedum spathulifolium var. spathulifolium

broad-leaf stonecrop, Pacific stonecrop, spatula-leaf stonecrop
Photo is of parent taxon

broadleaf stonecrop
Habit Herbs, perennial, mat-forming, glabrous.
Stems

rhizomatous, procumbent or creeping, much-branched, bearing terminal rosettes.

Flowering shoots

erect, simple, 3–14 cm;

leaf blades spatulate-oblong or elliptic-oblong, base not spurred;

offsets not formed.

Leaves

alternate, spreading, petiolate;

blade green, often glaucous or pruinose, spatulate, terete to laminar, 7–19 × 4.5–10 mm, base not spurred, not scarious, apex rounded or truncate, submucronate, (surfaces papillose marginally).

blades sometimes glaucous and appearing blue-green, not pruinose, with mealy covering, 1.4–2.1 mm thick.
Inflorescences

cymes, ca. 30-flowered, ca. 3-branched;

branches not recurved, forked;

bracts oblong-spatulate or linear, ca. 3 cm, base not spurred.

Pedicels

2–8 mm.

Flowers

5-merous;

sepals spreading to erect, connate basally, green or yellow-green, glaucous or pruinose, lanceolate, linear-lanceolate, oblong-ovate, or obovate, equal, ca. 2.5 × 1.5 mm, apex acute or obtuse;

petals widely spreading from short, erect base, distinct or slightly connate basally, yellow, linear to oblanceolate, not carinate, 4.5–9 mm, apex acute;

filaments yellow;

anthers yellow;

nectar scales yellow, reniform or nearly square.

1.2–1.6 cm diam.
Carpels

divergent in fruit, connate basally, brown.

Primary

rosettes 2.5–3.7 cm diam.
2n

= 30.

Sedum spathulifolium

Sedum spathulifolium var. spathulifolium
Phenology Flowering spring–summer.
Habitat Shaded situations and glades on cliffs and rocky slopes
Elevation 0-1600 m (0-5200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

The mature carpels of Sedum spathulifolium have five ribs and prominent lips along the adaxial suture. The flowers are sweetly fragrant.

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

The degree of waxy or powdery secretions on the leaf surface is variable. Individuals with powdery secretions grow on sea cliffs in California, Oregon, and Washington and are here recognized as var. pruinosum. Plants lacking powdery secretions but varying in degree of waxy secretions, which occur in the Sierra Nevada, Klamath Mountains, and Transverse Ranges of California, have been recognized as distinct subspecies by some authors. Of those, subsp. yosemitense has leaves loosely arranged in rosettes and is found in the central and southern Sierra Nevada and Transverse Ranges. Subspecies purdyi has a glaucous bloom and compact rosettes and is found in the northern Sierra Nevada and Klamath Mountains of northern California and southern Oregon. It has long stolons and enlarged papillae on the leaf margins; subsp. yosemitense has fewer, shorter stolons and lacks the marginal papillae. Further biosystematic studies are needed to determine whether subspp. yosemitense and purdyi should be recognized as infraspecific taxa.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Primary rosettes 2.5-3.7 cm diam.; leaf blades not pruinose, glaucous or not, 1.4-2.1 mm thick; flowers 1.2-1.6 cm diam.
var. spathulifolium
1. Primary rosettes 1.5-2.1 cm diam.; leaf blades pruinose, not glaucous, 2.1-2.5 mm thick; flowers 1-1.2 cm diam.
var. pruinosum
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 222. FNA vol. 8, p. 222.
Parent taxa Crassulaceae > Sedum Crassulaceae > Sedum > Sedum spathulifolium
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. pulchellum, S. pusillum, S. radiatum, S. robertsianum, S. rupestre, S. rupicola, S. sarmentosum, S. sexangulare, S. stelliforme, S. stenopetalum, S. ternatum, S. villosum, S. wrightii
S. spathulifolium var. pruinosum
Subordinate taxa
S. spathulifolium var. pruinosum, S. spathulifolium var. spathulifolium
Synonyms S. purdyi, S. spathulifolium subsp. anomalum, S. spathulifolium subsp. purdyi, S. spathulifolium subsp. yosemitense
Name authority Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 227. (1832) unknown
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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