|
Sedum furfuraceum (Bonsai Sedum) - A slow growing low growing branching succulent to 3 to 4 inches tall and spreading slowly to 1 foot wide or more on creeping stems with small upturned 1/4- to 3/8-inch-long egg shaped dark green leaves covered in scurfy whitish scales and aligned in tight spiral rows. Leaves are often reddish purple in bright light and lower leaves turn a reddish-orange hue and later drop off to expose twisted thick gray-white stems. In early spring appear the pinkish white star-like flowers that each last for about 10 days.
Plant in full sun to part shade in a well-drained soil and irrigate occasionally to very little. We have seen it listed as hardy to just below freezing (30 °F) but has proven hardy for us to short durations down to 25°F as evidenced by its survival, without damage, unprotected during our January 2007 freeze with three consecutive nights down to 25°F. This is a great small-scale groundcover, wall crevice plant or small container plant and can even be used indoors on a bright windowsill. Its slow growth makes it a good plant for succulent bonsai and can be trained to look like a miniature tree by removing the lower leaves.
Sedum furfuraceum was first discovered by Crassulaceae authority Reid Moran and longtime Huntington Botanic Garden Director Myron Kimnach on a San Diego Museum of Natural History sponsored expedition in 1959. They found it growing on a pine-covered hillside at about 6,900 feet in elevation above the Ranchito de Juarez southeast from Zaragoza, San Luis Potosi. The name for the genus comes from the Latin word 'sedo' meaning "to sit," in reference to the manner in which some species attach themselves to stones or walls. The specific epithet comes from the Latin word 'furfur' meaning "bran" or "scales" in reference to the scaly rough leaves. It was first described in the Cactus and Succulent Society of America's July-August 1961 Journal where Reid Moran described it as "a strange sedum forming coarse mats in the peat-like duff on pine-shaded rocks" and was introduced in 1964 by the International Succulent Introductions (ISI) as ISI-428. It appears to be not closely related to other Mexican Sedums and some though it might be an intergeneric hybrid between Sedum moranense and Pachyphytum hookeri which both occur at the type locality for this plant. Our plants from succulent guru and Aloe breeder John Bleck.
The information about Sedum furfuraceum that is displayed on this web page is based on research conducted in our nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We will also include observations made about this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We also incorporate comments that we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they share cultural information that aids others growing this plant.
|
