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Crassulaceae FAMILY

Sedum album

Sedum album

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

All species in the genus Sedum (including the closely allied genera such as Hylotelephium and Phedimus) have more or less edible leaves and young flowering stems, though they are not always totally desireable with several species having bitter, acrid or peppery flavours! However, the plants contain various alkaloids including sedine and sedamine. These can sometimes cause gastric upsets, usually of a mild nature[ 293 Title Poisonous Plants of North Carolina Publication Author Website http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/poison.htm Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent concise but comprehensive guide to toxic plants that grow in N. Carolina. It lists even those plants that are of very low toxicity, including several well-known food plants such as carrots and potatoes. ]. This is most likely to happen with species that have yellow flowers, though eating large quantities of any species could be problematic[ 62 Title A Field Guide to N. American Edible Wild Plants. Publication Author Elias. T. and Dykeman. P. Publisher Van Nostrand Reinhold Year 1982 ISBN 0442222009 Description Very readable. , 85 Title Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. Publication Author Harrington. H. D. Publisher University of New Mexico Press Year 1967 ISBN 0-8623-0343-9 Description A superb book. Very readable, it gives the results of the authors experiments with native edible plants. ].

Botanical Description

Sedum album is an evergreen perennial plant with fibrous roots and a creeping rhizome. It produces a mat of prostrate short, sterile shoots 2 - 3cm long and erect flowering stems 8 - 30cm tall[ 74 Title Flora of the USSR. Publication Author Komarov. V. L. Website http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org Publisher Israel Program for Scientific Translation Year 1968 ISBN - Description An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers. It can be downloaded from the Internet. ]. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and medicine. It is grown on a commercial basis for use in 'green roofing' systems; is occasionally cultivated as a medicinal and food plant; and is sometimes also grown as an ornamental, where it can be used as a ground cover.

Habitat & Origin

Origintemperate
Native RangeEurasia - Norway to Portugal (naturaliized in Britain), east to Ukraine, the Caucasus, Turkey, Iran, Lebanon and Syria; N. Africa - Morocco to Libya
HabitatRocks, walls, cobbled paths etc, in dry sunny situations on acid or calcareous soils[ 4 Title A Modern Herbal. Publication Author Grieve. Publisher Penguin Year 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 Description Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants. , 17 Title Flora of the British Isles. Publication Author Clapham, Tutin and Warburg. Publisher Cambridge University Press Year 1962 ISBN - Description A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures. ].