''Hylotelephium'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the stonecrop

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Crassulaceae The Crassulaceae (from Latin ''crassus'', thick), 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 Crass ...

. It includes about 33

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

distributed in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. Species in the genus, formerly included in ''

Sedum ''Sedum'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, members of which are commonly known as stonecrops. The genus has been described as containing up to 600 species, subsequently reduced to 400–500. They are leaf succulen ...

'', are popular garden plants, known as "sedum", "stonecrop", "live-for-ever" or "orpine". Horticulturalists have

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

ized 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 ''Hylotelephium telephium'' ( synonym ''Sedum 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 th ...

'' and related species have been considered in a number of different ways since first being described by

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in 1753, including as a section of ''

'' by

Gray Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

in 1821, or a subgenus. But these taxa are quite distinct from Sedum morphologically. ''Hylotelephium'' is one of a group of genera that form a separate lineage from ''Sedum'', and is closely related to ''

Orostachys ''Orostachys'' is a genus of the succulent family Crassulaceae (stonecrop family) that contains about 15 species. It is a biennial herb growing in China, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Mongolia, Russia. Eight species occur in China. Description ' ...

'', '' Meterostachys'', and ''

Sinocrassula ''Sinocrassula'' is a genus of succulent, subtropical plants of the family Crassulaceae The Crassulaceae (from Latin ''crassus'', thick), also known as the stonecrop family or the orpine family, are a diverse family of dicotyledon flowering pl ...

''. The separation of the genus has not been universally adopted, for instance a

Missouri Botanical Garden The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and philanthropist Henry Shaw. Its herbarium, with more than 6.6 million spe ...

website states "Upright Sedums were at one point separated into the genus ''Hylotelephium'', but are now generally included back in the genus ''Sedum''." One of Kew Garden's online databases also lists ''Hylotelephium'' as a synonym for ''Sedum''.

Species

The following species are recognised in the genus ''Hylotelephium'':

Hybrids

* ''Hylotelephium'' hybrids

Etymology

''Hylotelephium'' means ‘woodland distant lover’. ‘Hylo’ is derived from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, 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.

References

Bibliography

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ResearchGate ResearchGate is a European commercial social networking site for scientists and researchers to share papers, ask and answer questions, and find collaborators. According to a 2014 study by ''Nature'' and a 2016 article in ''Times Higher Education'' ...

) * * * , in Flora of China online vol. 8 * * * * * Crassulaceae Crassulaceae genera Taxa named by Hideaki Ohba {{Crassulaceae-stub