''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 A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

groundcover 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 plants characterized by succulent leaves and a unique form of photosynthesis, known as Crass ...

native to

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...

. The flowers are held in dense heads and can be reddish or yellowish-white. A number of

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

s, 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' ('Autumn Joy'). Occasionally garden plants may escape and naturalise as has happened in parts of North America.

Taxonomy

The plant was known to botanists, including

Dioscorides Pedanius Dioscorides ( grc-gre, Πεδάνιος Διοσκουρίδης, ; 40–90 AD), “the father of pharmacognosy”, was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of '' De materia medica'' (, On Medical Material) —a 5-vo ...

(, 40 AD – 90 AD) in his

De Materia Medica (Latin name for the Greek work , , both meaning "On Medical Material") is a pharmacopoeia of medicinal plants and the medicines that can be obtained from them. The five-volume work was written between 50 and 70 CE by Pedanius Dioscorides, ...

( grc-gre, Περὶ ὕλης ἰατρικῆς) as Telephion ( grc-gre, Τηλεφιον).

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

, Gerard and Parkinson were among many later authors to describe ''Telephium''. It was first formally 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, as one of 15 species of ''Sedum'',

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 ...

included it and related species as a section of the genus ''Sedum''. These species differ markedly from the rest of that genus by a distinct ovary and ovules, flowering stems, leaves, inflorescence, flower parts, colour and blooming time and chromosome number. Consequently, Ohba (1977) segregated these species into a separate genus, '' Hylotelephium'' with 28 species, specifying ''Hylotelephium telephium'' as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

. Subsequent molecular phylogenetic studies have confirmed that these species constitute a distinct clade, separate from the very large ''Sedum'' genus, which is paraphyletic. Sedum is widely considered to be an unnatural

catch-all A catch-all or catchall is a general term, or metaphoric dumping group, for a variety of similar words or meanings. Catch-all may also refer to: * Catch-all party, or big tent party * Catch-all email filter *Catch-all taxon Wastebasket taxon (a ...

taxonomic grouping. That clade, originally given the informal name Telephium and later Hylotelephium, was given the

taxonomic rank In biological classification, taxonomic rank is the relative level of a group of organisms (a taxon) in an ancestral or hereditary hierarchy. A common system consists of species, genus, family, order, class, phylum, kingdom, domain. While ...

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...

Telephieae Sempervivoideae is the largest of three subfamilies in the Saxifragales family (biology), family Crassulaceae, with about 20–30 genera with succulent leaves. Unlike the two smaller subfamilies, it is distributed in temperate climates. The large ...

. The name ''Hylotelephium telephium'' has been widely, but not universally adopted.

Etymology and names

Telephium

The name Telephium was thought to be named after a surgical term for an

ulcer An ulcer is a discontinuity or break in a bodily membrane that impedes normal function of the affected organ. According to Robbins's pathology, "ulcer is the breach of the continuity of skin, epithelium or mucous membrane caused by sloughing o ...

that was particularly difficult to cure. This in turn was named after King

Telephus In Greek mythology, Telephus (; grc-gre, Τήλεφος, ''Tēlephos'', "far-shining") was the son of Heracles and Auge, who was the daughter of king Aleus of Tegea. He was adopted by Teuthras, the king of Mysia, in Asia Minor, whom he succe ...

who suffered from a spear wound that would not heal (''see

Uses Use may refer to: * Use (law), an obligation on a person to whom property has been conveyed * Use (liturgy), a special form of Roman Catholic ritual adopted for use in a particular diocese * Use–mention distinction, the distinction between using ...

'').

Common names

''Hylotelephium telephium'' has earned many common names in English, including orpine, livelong, life-everlasting, live-forever, frog's-stomach, harping Johnny, midsummer-men, orphan John and witch's moneybags.

Subdivision

There are several subspecies. Ohba accepted the following: *''Hylotelphium telephium'' subsp. ''fabaria'' Koch - West & Central Europe *''Hylotelphium telephium'' subsp. ''maximum'' L. - Europe & W Asia *''Hylotelphium telephium'' subsp. ''ruprechtii'' Jalas - North-east Europe *''Hylotelphium telephium'' subsp. ''telephium'' - Central & East Europe, E Asia

Distribution and habitat

The species is endemic from Europe to Asia, but has been widely introduced elsewhere, particularly N America. It can be found growing in fields, around hedges, hills, and on gravelly or calcareous soils. In the UK, it is found in woodland and near hedges.

Ecology

In N America, where it has been introduced, ''Hylotelephium telephium'' is considered invasive.

Uses

The very young leaves can be eaten raw, and both the young leaves and firm tubers can be cooked. The plant has been used medicinally, being used by the Romans to treat wounds, and in later times to treat internal ulcers. It has also been used for love-divination. As the stems and leaves can store water, when picked. Hence common name ''livelong''. They were hung in a room, where a girl was to be married to a boy. If the stems grew together, this 'sign' would mean that the marriage would be blessed and she would be happy. Alternatively, if they grew apart, the marriage prospects looked bad and if a stem died, this would portent death.

Gallery

(MHNT) Hylotelephium telephium - Habitus.jpg, ''Hylotelephium telephium'' Subspecies ''telephium'' - Habit (MHNT) Hylotelephium telephium - flower buds.jpg, ''Hylotelephium telephium'' Subspecies ''telephium'' - Flower buds Sedum fabaria a5.jpg, Subspecies ''fabaria'' Sedum telephium 240808b.jpg, Subspecies ''telephium'' Sedum telephium subsp maximum 200807.jpg, Subspecies ''maximum'' Hylotelephium telephium Sturm42.jpg, Subspecies ''maximum'' Blüte von Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude' mit zwei Bienen IMG 9737c.jpg, The cultivar 'Herbstfreude'

Notes

References

Bibliography

Books

* * * ** , in * '
full text at
' ResearchGate) * ;Historical * * (from the Latin, after

John Goodyer John Goodyer (1592–1664) was a botanist who lived in south-east Hampshire, England, all his life. He amassed a large collection of botanical texts which were bequeathed to Magdalen College, Oxford, and translated a number of classical texts ...

1655]) * (''Index in frontispiece'') * * , ''see also'' Species Plantarum * * , ''see also

English Botany ''English Botany'' was a major publication of British plants comprising a 36 volume set, issued in 267 monthly parts over 23 years from 1790 to 1814. The work was conceived, illustrated, edited and published by the botanical illustrator and natura ...

Articles

* * *

Websites

* * * * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1327535 Medicinal plants of Asia Medicinal plants of Europe Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Groundcovers telephium Taxa named by Hideaki Ohba