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Wild flowers of the north-eastern states

Chapter 24: ORPINE FAMILY. CRASSULACEÆ.
By Ellen Miller
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Nature/Gardening/Animals

About This Book

This illustrated manual gathers 308 common wildflowers of the northeastern United States, each drawn life-size and accompanied by plain-language descriptions emphasizing habit, color, and growth rather than technical dissection. Organized by floral families in the sequence of Gray's Manual and arranged for seasonal bloom, entries include leaves, stems, and often whole growth, with occasional shrubs, vines, and fruit shown where notable. Aimed at amateur naturalists, it favors recognizable traits and folk names to ease identification, offers practical notes on variations and habitat, and pairs accurate botanical classification with accessible, pictorial presentation.

ORPINE FAMILY.
CRASSULACEÆ.

Live-for-ever.Sedum Telephium.
Pudding-bag-plant.
Aaron’s-rod (N. H.).
Stone-crop.
Witches’ money-bags (Mass.).

Found in rocky soil, along roads and in door-yards, blossoming during August.

Its very leafy and branching stalk, from 1 to 2 feet high, is large and round and juicy; very smooth, and pale green, inclining to pink near the blossoms.

The broad, oval leaf, with its stout midrib, and slightly scalloped margin, is thick, tough, and juicy; the surface is very smooth, and the color a light gray-green, pale on the underside with a bloom, and moist to the touch. The leaves clasp the stalk alternately, and very close together, from foot to flower.

The small richly-hued flower has 5 sharp-pointed petals, which spread widely, and are colored a full crimson or garnet; the 5-parted green calyx being also toned with red. The flowers form a close, round, terminal cluster.

Shrugged down among the close gathered leaves the bloom has a jewel-like effect of glowing color, and the seed-cases take on a deep red hue which prolongs its season of beauty as a compensation for its infrequent flowering. The plant’s endurance during droughts and tenacious hold on life are remarkable; a cut stalk has been observed full of unwithered bloom a fortnight after the farmer’s scythe had swept the roadside. To children its charm lies in the power of inflation which belongs to the easily separated skin of the leaves.