Reflexed stonecrop

 

Reflexed stonecrop (Sedum reflexum) is a plant that was introduced from Europe into Great Britain. Originally grown as a cultivated plant, it spread beyond gardens into the land beyond and now grows in the wild on old walls, rocks and other suitable habitats, especially in southern Britain.

A crop is a dense head of flowers, and the name stonecrop comes from the plant’s habit of growing on stone walls. Reflexed stonecrop is so called because the lower leaves of the flowering stems are sometimes curved back, or reflexed.

Creeping, mat-forming stems produce short, spreading, non-flowering shoots and long, erect, flowering shoots. The leaves are fleshy. The plant grows to 6-12 inches (15-30 cm) in height.

Bright yellow flowers grow in a single cluster at the top of the stem, between June and August.

At one time, the leaves of reflexed stonecrop were eaten as a spring salad, and the 17^th-century diarist John Evelyn recommended it as a plant for the kitchen garden. In the Middle Ages it was used to stop bleeding and to cure ulcers and sores.

© John Welford