Hylotelephium

Hylotelephium
Hylotelephium spectabile
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Saxifragales
Family:	Crassulaceae
Subfamily:	Sempervivoideae
Genus:	Hylotelephium H.Ohba
Type species
Hylotelephium telephium (L.) H.Ohba
Species
See text

Hylotelephium is a genus of flowering plants in the stonecrop family Crassulaceae. It includes about 33 species distributed in Asia, Europe, and North America.

Species in the genus, formerly included in Sedum , are popular garden plants, known as sedum, stonecrop, live-for-ever, or orpine. Horticulturalists have hybridised many of the species to create new cultivars. Many of the newer ones are patented, so may not be propagated without a license.

Taxonomy

Hylotelephium telephium and related species have been considered in a number of different ways since first being described by Linnaeus in 1753, including as a section of Sedum by Gray in 1821, ^[1] or a subgenus. But these taxa are quite distinct from Sedum morphologically. ^[2]

Hylotelephium is one of a group of genera that form a separate lineage from Sedum, and is closely related to Orostachys , Meterostachys , and Sinocrassula . ^{[3] [4]}

The separation and recognition of Hypotelephium as a genus separate from Sedum has varied over time. As of March 2025, Plants of the World Online (POWO) and World Flora Online both recognise the genus Hylotelephium, with both documenting 28 accepted species. ^{[5] [6]} In horticulture, plants may often still be referred to as Sedum, with which they remain closely related.

Species

The following species are recognised in the genus Hylotelephium: ^[7]

Image	Scientific name	Distribution
	Hylotelephium anacampseros	Southwestern Europe
	Hylotelephium angustum
	Hylotelephium × bergeri
	Hylotelephium bonnafousii
	Hylotelephium callichromum
	Hylotelephium cauticola	Hokkaido, Japan
	Hylotelephium cyaneum
	Hylotelephium erythrostictum	Japan, Korea, Russia and China.
	Hylotelephium ewersii
	Hylotelephium maximum
	Hylotelephium mingjinianum
	Hylotelephium pallescens	China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Russia
	Hylotelephium pluricaule
	Hylotelephium populifolium
	Hylotelephium sieboldii	Japan
	Hylotelephium sordidum
	Hylotelephium spectabile	China and Korea.
	Hylotelephium sukaczevii
	Hylotelephium tatarinowii
	Hylotelephium telephioides	USA extends from Georgia to Illinois and New York, and it has introduced populations in Ontario.
	Hylotelephium telephium	Eurasia.
	Hylotelephium tianschanicum
	Hylotelephium uralense
	Hylotelephium ussuriense
	Hylotelephium verticillatum	China, Japan, Korea, Russia
	Hylotelephium viride
	Hylotelephium viviparum

Hybrids

• Hylotelephium hybrids

Etymology

Hylotelephium means 'woodland distant lover'. 'Hylo' is derived from Greek, meaning 'forest' or 'woodland'. 'Telephium', also derived from Greek, means 'distant-lover'; the plant was thought to be able to indicate when one's affections were returned. ^[8]

References

1. Gray 1821.
2. Ohba 1977.
3. Mayuzumi & Ohba 2004.
4. Fu et al 2004.
5. "Hylotelephium H.Ohba | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2025-03-10.
6. "WFO Plant List | World Flora Online". wfoplantlist.org. Retrieved 2025-03-10.
7. "Hylotelephium H.Ohba | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Archived from the original on 2022-05-28. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
8. Gledhill 2006.

Bibliography

• Gledhill, David (2006). The names of plants (4th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   0521866456. Archived from the original on 2023-02-08. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
• Gray, Samuel Frederick (1821). "Sedum b. Telephium". A natural arrangement of British plants: according to their relations to each other as pointed out by Jussieu, De Candolle, Brown, &c. 2 vols. London: Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy. pp. ii: 539–540. Archived from the original on 2014-02-24. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
• Thiede, J; Eggli, U (2007). "Crassulaceae". In Kubitzki, Klaus (ed.). Berberidopsidales, Buxales, Crossosomatales, Fabales p.p., Geraniales, Gunnerales, Myrtales p.p., Proteales, Saxifragales, Vitales, Zygophyllales, Clusiaceae Alliance, Passifloraceae Alliance, Dilleniaceae, Huaceae, Picramniaceae, Sabiaceae. Springer. pp. 83–119. ISBN   978-3540322146. Archived from the original on 2023-02-08. Retrieved 2023-02-08.(full text at Archived 2020-10-19 at the Wayback Machine ResearchGate)
• Mayuzumi, Shinzo; Ohba, Hideaki (2004). "The Phylogenetic Position of Eastern Asian Sedoideae (Crassulaceae) Inferred from Chloroplast and Nuclear DNA Sequences". Systematic Botany . 29 (3): 587–598. doi:10.1600/0363644041744329. ISSN   0363-6445. JSTOR   25063994. S2CID   84319808.
• Ohba, Hideaki (March 1977). "The taxonomic status of Sedum telephium and its allied species (Crassulaceae)". The Botanical Magazine Tokyo. 90 (1): 41–56. doi:10.1007/BF02489468. S2CID   22239507.
• Fu, Kunjun; Ohba, Hideaki; Gilbert, Michael G. (2004). "Hylotelephium H. Ohba". p. 209. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2019., in Flora of China online vol. 8
• "Sedum 'Purple Emperor'". Plant Finder: Gardening Help. Missouri Botanical Garden. Archived from the original on 27 October 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
• TPL (2013). "The Plant List Version 1.1: Hylotelephium". Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden. Archived from the original on 28 April 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2019.