Author:
Jan Scholten
Book:
Qjurious
Type:
Info
Chapter:
3-652.15.__
Hylotelephium telephium
Synonym: Sedum telephium.
English: Orpine; Livelong; Frog's-stomach; Harping Johnny; Life-everlasting; Live-forever; Midsummer-men; Orphan John; Witch's moneybags.
Name: Telephium was a surgical term for an ulcer difficult to cure; this was named after King Telephus who suffered from a spear wound that would not heal.
Botany
Herb; succulent; perennial; groundcover.
Region: Eurasia.
Inflorescence: dense heads.
Flowers: reddish or yellowish-white.
Taxonomy
Telephium was known to botanists, Dioscorides, Pliny, Gerard and Parkinson. Linnaeus described it as one of 15 species of Sedum. Gray included it and related species as a section of the genus Sedum. Telephium species differ markedly from Sedum by a distinct ovary and ovules, flowering stems, leaves, inflorescence, flower parts, colour and blooming time and chromosome number. Consequently, Ohba segregated Telephium species into a separate genus, Hylotelephium with 28 species, specifying Hylotelephium telephium as the type species. Molecular phylogenetic studies have confirmed that Telephium constitutes a distinct clade.