Click the number at the start of a key lead to highlight both that lead and its corresponding lead. Click again to show only the two highlighted leads. Click a third time to return to the full key with the selected leads still highlighted.

Click images to enlarge and show more photo credit.

Key to Sedum

Crassulaceae

Sedum

Copy permalink to share

1
Leaves primarily whorled in 3's or 4's (to 5’s).
  2
Largest leaves distinctly spatulate, much wider than thick, 8-20 mm wide; flowers and fruits 4-merous; petals white; [native, of moist forest and rock outcrops]; [section Ternata]
 ⇒ Sedum ternatum
  2
Largest leaves linear-lanceolate, oblanceolate, or elliptic, almost as thick as wide, < 7 mm wide; flowers and fruits 5-merous; petals yellow (except white in S. diffusum); [exotic].
    3
Leaves 4 (-5) per whorl; flowering shoots erect.
      4
Flowers white or whitish-pink
 ⇒ Sedum diffusum
      4
Flowers yellow
 ⇒ Sedum mexicanum
    3
Leaves 3 (-4) per whorl; flowering shoots pendulous, creeping, or ascending.
      5
Flowering shoots creeping or ascending; leaves oblanceolate to elliptic
 ⇒ Sedum sarmentosum
1
Leaves primarily alternate.
  6
Flowers and fruits 5-9-merous.
    7
Leaves 2-5 mm long; petals yellow.
      8
Plant perennial, mat-forming by trailing stems; leaves yellow-green; petals 5-9 mm long, with acute to acuminate apices; [exotic, usually in urban or suburban areas]
 ⇒ Sedum acre
      8
Plant annual, stems solitary; leaves pale or bluish green; petals 2-4 mm long, with mucronate apices; [native, of shallow soils over rock]
 ⇒ Sedum nuttallii
    7
Leaves 6-15 mm long; petals yellow or white.
      9
Petals white; flowers 5-merous
 ⇒ Sedum album
      9
Petals yellow; flowers (5-) 6-7 (-9) merous
 ⇒ Petrosedum
  6
Flowers and fruits 4-merous.
    10
Leaves of flower-bearing stems linear, sagittate-spurred at the base (the spurs clasping the stem); petals pink to white; annual; [section Ternata]
 ⇒ Sedum pulchellum
    10
Leaves of flower-bearing stems narrowly elliptic, oblanceolate, spatulate, cuneate or short-spurred at the base (not clasping); petals white; perennial or annual.
      11
Plants annual; sepals 0.4-1 mm long; petals 1.4-4.2 mm long; [restricted to shallow soils of granitic flatrocks of the Piedmont, from s. NC south to wc. GA]; [section Tetrorum]
 ⇒ Sedum pusillum
      11
Plants perennial; sepals 2-9 mm long; petals 4-9 mm long; [of outcrops of various rocks, not as above]; [section Ternata].
        12
Leaves of flowering stems with width/thickness ratio of > 2.0; seeds averaging 0.8 mm long; leaves pale green or bluish green, sometimes with a glaucous coating; primary rosettes usually 1.0-2.7 cm in diameter; [MD south through VA and WV to sc. and sw. NC]
 ⇒ Sedum glaucophyllum
        12
Leaves of flowering stems with width/thickness ratio of < 1.7; seeds averaging 0.7 mm long; leaves green or gray-green, but not glaucous; primary rosettes usually ca. 1 cm in diameter; [se. TN south into AL and GA]
 ⇒ Sedum nevii