Sedum frigidum Rydb.

Authority

New York Botanical Garden. Herbarium of Dr. Per Axel Rydberg. Purchased, 1899. Contributions from the New York Botanical Garden.

Family

Crassulaceae

Scientific Name

Sedum frigidum Rydb.

Description

Species Description - Perennial with a fleshy rootstock, dioecious. Stems usually less than 1 dm. high, light green: leaves flat, 1-1.5 cm. long and 5-7 mm. wide, sessile, obovate or oblong-obovate, often dentate above the middle, or entire, acute: inflorescence dense, usually dark purple: flowers 4— 5-merous, usually 5-merous: sepals of the staminate flowers lanceolate, acute, 1.5-2 mm. long, dark purple or rarely greenish: petals oblanceolate or oblong, acute, about 3 mm. long, dark purple or very rarely greenish tinged with purple: filaments filiform, purple, about one third longer than the petals, the pistillate similar but with somewhat shorter and more obtuse petals: follicles 3-5 mm. long, oblong, with a very short beak about .5 mm. long, divergent or at last recurved.

Discussion

This species has gone under the name of S. roseum (L.) Scop., but is quite unlike the northern European plant, which must be regarded as the type of RJiodiola rosea L. This has a very short, almost tuberous rootstock, more oblanceolate leaves about 3 cm. long, usually with very sharp dentations, usually yellow petals, longer filaments almost twice as long as the petals and follicle^, 6- 8 mm. long. This form is also found in the mountains of southern Europe ; but there seems to be another European plant ; this is described and figured under the name Rhiodiola rosea in the " Flora von Deutschland" published by Schlechtendal, Langethal and Schenk. It resembles more the Rocky Mountain plant in the purple, flowers and short stamens, but it has more inversely deltoid leaves, the fertile flowers have very minute petals or none and the follicles have long beaks. In all systematic botanies of Scandinavia and Russia, S. rosciiui is described as having yellow petals, which is never the case in the Rocky Mountain and Alaskan plants. In this respect plants from eastern North America agree with the European.

S. frigidum is an alpine-arctic plant growing in Colorado at an altitude of 3000 m. or more. In Montana it is found at an altitude of about 2700 m. and in Alaska at low altitudes. It grows among rocks, associating with several species of Saxifraga and Adoxa Moschatellina

Montana: Old Hollow Top, 1897, Ryciberg & Bessey, 4248 (type); Long Baldy, 1896, Flodman, 513 ; Haystack Peak, 1899, P. Koch.

Distribution

Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, Washington, Alaska.

Colorado United States of America North America| Nevada United States of America North America| Idaho United States of America North America| Washington United States of America North America| Alaska United States of America North America|