Common houseleek | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Saxifragales |
Family: | Crassulaceae |
Genus: | Sempervivum |
Species: | S. tectorum |
Binomial name | |
Sempervivum tectorum | |
Sempervivum tectorum, the common houseleek, [1] is a species of flowering plant in the family Crassulaceae, native to the mountains of southern Europe, cultivated in the whole of Europe for its appearance and a Roman tradition claiming that it protects buildings against lightning strikes.
Growing to 15 cm (6 in) tall by 50 cm (20 in) broad, it is a rosette-forming succulent evergreen perennial, spreading by offsets. It has grey-green, tufted, sessile leaves, 4–10 cm (2–4 in) in diameter, which are often suffused with rose-red. In summer it bears clusters of reddish-purple flowers, in multiples of 8–16, on hairy erect flat-topped stems. [2] [3] [4] [5] The species is highly variable, in part because hundreds of cultivars have been propagated, sold, and traded for nearly 200 years. [5]
Sempervivum tectorum was described in 1753 by Linnaeus, who noted that its leaves are ciliate, that is, fringed with hairs. [3]
This plant has been known to humans for thousands of years, and has attracted many common names and traditions. In addition to common houseleek, names include variations of the following:-
The specific epithet tectorum means "of house roofs", referring to a traditional location for these plants. [10]
Sempervivum tectorum is one of several houseleek species to be cultivated. It is valued as groundcover for hot, dry places. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. [11] [12]
Sempervivum tectorum multiplies horizontally by propagation of underground roots. Propagation occurs in the spring, when budding occurs. From each mother plant you can get up to 4 new ones. They come off easily taking care not to break the roots. Seeds propagation always works in spring. [13]
The plant has been traditionally thought to protect against thunderstorms, and grown on house roofs for that reason, [14] which is why it is called House Leek. [6] Many of its popular names in different languages reflect an association with the Roman thunder-god Jupiter, notably the Latin barba Jovis (Jupiter's beard), referred to in the Floridus traditionally attributed to Aemilius Macer, [15] and its French derivative joubarbe, which has in turn given rise to jubard and jo-barb in English; or with the Norse thunder-god Thor as in German Donnerbart. [16] It is also called simply thunder-plant. [17] Anglo-Saxon þunorwyrt [18] [19] may have either meaning. However, the association with Jupiter has also been derived from a resemblance between the flowers and the god's beard; in modern times, it has also been called St. George's beard. [6]
Other common names, such as Anglo-Saxon singrēne, Modern English sigrim, sil-green, etc. and aye-green, [17] [20] [21] refer to its longevity. William Fernie tells a tale in support of this:
History relates that a botanist tried hard for eighteen months to dry a plant of the House Leek for his herbarium, but failed in this object. He afterwards restored it to its first site when it grew again as if nothing had interfered with its ordinary life. [6]
It has been believed to protect more generally against decay and against witchcraft. [6] Jacob Grimm quotes a Provençal troubadour: "e daquel erba tenon pro li vilan sobra lur maiso" — "and that plant they keep against evil atop their house." [22] In his Capitulare de villis vel curtis imperii , Charlemagne recommended it be grown on top of houses. [23] In some places, S. tectorum is still traditionally grown on the roofs of houses. [24] [25]
The juice has been used in herbal medicine as an astringent and treatment for skin and eye diseases, including by Galen and Dioscorides, to ease inflammation and, mixed with honey, to treat thrush; however, large doses have an emetic effect. [26] Pliny also mentions it, and Marcellus Empiricus listed it as a component in external treatments for contusions, nervous disorders, intestinal problems and abdominal pain, and mixed with honey, as part of the antidotum Hadriani (Hadrian's antidote), a broad-spectrum palliative for internal complaints. [27]
Romans grew the plant in containers in front of windows and associated it with love medicine. [6]
Chives, scientific name Allium schoenoprasum, is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae that produces edible leaves and flowers. Their close relatives include the common onions, garlic, shallot, leek, scallion, and Chinese onion.
Sorrel, also called common sorrel or garden sorrel, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Polygonaceae. Other names for sorrel include spinach dock and narrow-leaved dock.
Jupiter, also known as Jove, is the god of the sky and thunder, and king of the gods in ancient Roman religion and mythology. Jupiter was the chief deity of Roman state religion throughout the Republican and Imperial eras, until Christianity became the dominant religion of the Empire. In Roman mythology, he negotiates with Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, to establish principles of Roman religion such as offering, or sacrifice.
The Crassulaceae, also known as the stonecrop family or the orpine family, are a diverse family of dicotyledon flowering plants characterized by succulent leaves and a unique form of photosynthesis, known as Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM). Flowers generally have five floral parts. Crassulaceae are usually herbaceous but there are some subshrubs, and relatively few treelike or aquatic plants. Crassulaceae are a medium size monophyletic family in the core eudicots, among the order Saxifragales, whose diversity has made infrafamilial classification very difficult. The family includes approximately 1,400 species and 34–35 genera, depending on the circumscription of the genus Sedum, and distributed over three subfamilies. Members of the Crassulaceae are found worldwide, but mostly in the Northern Hemisphere and southern Africa, typically in dry and/or cold areas where water may be scarce, although a few are aquatic.
Leucojum is a small genus of bulbous plants native to Eurasia belonging to the Amaryllis family, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. As currently circumscribed, the genus includes only two known species, most former species having been moved into the genus Acis. Both genera are known as snowflakes.
Sempervivum is a genus of about 40 species of flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, commonly known as houseleeks. Other common names include liveforever and hen and chicks, a name shared with plants of other genera as well. They are succulent perennials forming mats composed of tufted leaves in rosettes. In favourable conditions they spread rapidly via offsets, and several species are valued in cultivation as groundcover for dry, sunny locations.
Jovibarba is a small genus of three species of succulent flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, endemic to mountainous regions in the southeastern quadrant of Europe. The genus is sometimes classified as a subgenus of Sempervivum, to which it is closely related. Jovibarba have pale-greenish-yellow or yellow actinomorphic flowers with about six petals, while Sempervivum have generally pinkish flowers with around twice as many petals, which open more widely than jovibarba flowers. The common name hen and chicks is applied to some Jovibarba species.
Hen and chicks is a common name for a group of small succulent plants. They belong to the flowering plant family Crassulaceae, native to southern Europe and northern Africa. The plants grow close to the ground with leaves formed around each other in a rosette, and propagating by offsets. The "hen" is the main, or mother, plant, and the "chicks" are a flock of offspring, which start as tiny buds on the main plant and soon sprout their own roots, taking up residence close to the mother plant.
Dudleya, commonly known as liveforevers is a genus of rosette-forming succulent plants in the stonecrop family, Crassulaceae, consisting of about 68 taxa in southwestern North America and Guadalupe Island. The species come in many forms, with some large and evergreen, others geophytic and deciduous. Yet, despite their dramatic variations in appearance, most species readily hybridize. The flowers of Dudleya have parts numbered in fives, with the petals arranged in tubular, star-shaped, and bell-shaped forms and, when fruiting, are filled with tiny, ovoid-crescent-shaped seeds.
Syringa vulgaris, the lilac or common lilac, is a species of flowering plant in the olive family Oleaceae, native to the Balkan Peninsula, where it grows on rocky hills. Grown for its scented flowers in spring, this large shrub or small tree is widely cultivated and has been naturalized in parts of Europe, Asia and North America. It is not regarded as an aggressive species. It is found in the wild in widely scattered sites, usually in the vicinity of past or present human habitations.
Mertensia virginica is a spring ephemeral plant in the Boraginaceae (borage) family with bell-shaped sky-blue flowers, native to eastern North America.
Sempervivum arachnoideum, the cobweb house-leek, is a species of flowering plant in the family Crassulaceae, native to European mountains, in the Alps, Apennines and Carpathians. Growing to 8 cm (3 in) tall by 30 cm (12 in) wide, it is a rosette-forming succulent perennial, valued in cultivation for its ability to colonise hot, dry areas via offsets.
Aeonium arboreum, the tree aeonium, tree houseleek, or Irish rose, is a succulent, subtropical subshrub in the flowering plant family Crassulaceae.
A monastic garden was used by many people and for multiple purposes. Gardening was the chief source of food for households, but also encompassed orchards, cemeteries and pleasure gardens, as well as providing plants for medicinal and cultural uses. For monasteries, gardens were especially important in supplying the monks livelihood. Primarily due to the fact that many of the plants had multiple uses: for instance, peaches were used for closing wounds.
Hylotelephium telephium, known as orpine, livelong, frog's-stomach, harping Johnny, life-everlasting, live-forever, midsummer-men, Orphan John and witch's moneybags, is a succulent perennial groundcover of the family Crassulaceae native to Eurasia. The flowers are held in dense heads and can be reddish or yellowish-white. A number of cultivars, often with purplish leaves, are grown in gardens as well as hybrids between this species and the related Hylotelephium spectabile (iceplant), especially the popular 'Herbstfreude'. Occasionally garden plants may escape and naturalise as has happened in parts of North America.
Ornithogalum nutans, known as drooping star-of-Bethlehem, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to Europe and South West Asia. It is a bulbous perennial growing to 20–60 cm (8–24 in) tall by 5 cm (2 in) wide, with strap-shaped leaves and green striped, pendent grey-white flowers in spring. It is cultivated, and has naturalized, outside its native range, for example in North America. It has become extremely invasive along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Maryland. At least in North America, it is not as common as Ornithogalum umbellatum.
The numerous epithets of Jupiter indicate the importance and variety of the god's cult in ancient Roman religion.
Iris tectorum is a plant species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus Limniris. It is a rhizomatous perennial. It is native of China, Korea and Burma, with lavender-blue, bluish-violet, purple-blue, blue-lilac or sky blue flowers. There is a white form as well. It is a compact plant and is cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions of the world.
Elegia tectorum, previously Chondropetalum tectorum or Restio tectorum, more commonly Cape thatching reed, or dakriet, is a member of the restio family, Restionaceae. It is a tufted perennial growing to between 1.5 and 2.25 m, with deciduous leaf sheaths. Flowers are less than 3 mm long. Petals are smooth or hairy in the upper half. E. tectorum is found in marshes and seeps on deep sand in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape of South Africa.
Eileen Barnes (1876–1956) was a notable and highly acclaimed botanical artist, well known for her definitive and accurate depictions of Ireland's plant life.
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: CS1 maint: postscript (link)Et ille hortulanus habeat super domum suam Iovis barbam— English,
And the gardener shall have house-leeks growing on his house.; however, "Barba Iovis", in von Pauly & Wissowa (1896) , p. 2818 says he recommended including it in the garden as a domestic remedy.
In Slavic nations, the tradition of roof-top houseleeks is still practiced.