Sedella pumila

(Bentham) Britton & Rose

New N. Amer. Crassul., 45. 1903,.

Endemic
Basionym: Sedum pumilum Bentham Pl. Hartw., 310. 1849
Synonyms: Parvisedum congdonii (Eastwood) R. T. Clausen Parvisedum pumilum (Bentham) R. T. Clausen Sedella congdonii (Eastwood) Britton & Rose Sedella pumila var. congdonii (Eastwood) Jepson Sedum congdonii Sedum pumilum var. congdonii (Eastwood) Fröderström
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 8. Treatment on page 196.

Plants 0.3–1.7 dm, usually with erect branches ± equaling main axis, or branches spreading; hypocotyl 0.5–2.5 cm. Stems 10–25-noded. Leaf blades 0.4–0.7 × 0.1–0.3 cm. Cymes 1–5-branched, 5–15-flowered, 1–5 cm. Flowers 4–10 mm diam.; calyx base tapering to pedicel; petals widely spreading, erect in fruit, straw colored to bright yellow, commonly red-marked on keel, elliptic to lanceolate, 2.5–5 × 0.3–1.2 mm, apex acute; stamens 10; pistils 1–2 mm, stipitate-glandular near suture and on angles, often with papillae on suture; styles erect, or, when short, often recurved, 0.3–1.2 mm. Utricles erect or ascending, 1.2–2.5 mm. Seeds 0.8–1.5 mm. 2n = 18.


Phenology: Flowering spring.
Habitat: Gravelly soils, vernal pools, thin soil on outcrops of serpentine, limestone, lava, or granite, often in mat of moss
Elevation: 30-1500 m

Discussion

Flowers of Sedella pumila have a noticeably musty odor. The Oregon specimen of Sedum pumilum cited by R. T. Clausen (1975) as needing confirmation is not of this species, and the Nuttall specimen cited for Oregon by W. H. Brewer et al. (1876–1880, vol. 1) is of doubtful origin (R. V. Moran 1998).

Although W. L. Jepson (1909–1943, vol. 2) called Sedella congdonii a dubious variety of S. pumilum, H. K. Sharsmith (1936) and all later authors have kept it as a distinct species. The two taxa have broadly overlapping ranges and the same chromosome number, and although some specimens are different enough, they are connected by many intermediates. It does not seem practical to separate them (R. V. Moran 1998).

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Sedella pumila"
Reid V. Moran +
(Bentham) Britton & Rose +
Sedum pumilum +
30-1500 m +
Gravelly soils, vernal pools, thin soil on outcrops of serpentine, limestone, lava, or granite, often in mat of moss +
Flowering spring. +
New N. Amer. Crassul., +
Parvisedum congdonii +, Parvisedum pumilum +, Sedella congdonii +, Sedella pumila var. congdonii +, Sedum congdonii +  and Sedum pumilum var. congdonii +
Sedella pumila +
species +