Home Index Web Stuff Copyright Links Me

Sempervivum erythraeum



One of my favourite species, the rosettes have a dwarf lilac charm that I find difficult to resist. It has a reputation for being fussy about damp in the winter but haven't had that problem. The rosettes get smaller during the winter months but I haven't found them rotting off.

Plants of the World online accepts it as a species and says:

"The native range of this species is Bulgaria. It is a succulent perennial and grows primarily in the temperate biome."

Others have put forward the view that it is better treated as a subspecies of S. marmoreum in which case it becomes S. marmoreum ssp. erythraeum.

The AGS encyclopedia says:

"Compact tufts of open rosettes 2-5cm across with offsets on short stolons. Leaves ovate to spoon-shaped, 10-20 by 5-10mm long, green with a purplish tinge, densely short hairy giving them a velvety look. Flowering stems leafy, 15-20cm high carry wide inflorescences with pink to red-purple flowers 2cm across, having eleven to thirteen petals. Endemic to mountains of Bulgaria."
12th June 2016



Writing in the Bulletin of the Alpine Garden Society in 1935, Hugh Miller says:

"(Sempervivum) erythraeum Velenovsky is a beautiful species. The rosettes are flattish, wide open with very many leaves, greyish-green, some forms with an opalescent flush. The leaves are covered with minute white hairs - generally visible only uder a magnifying glass. The flowering-stem and flowers are also very hairy, the narrow petals being purplish-red colour. The offsets are always on very short stolons so that the plant forms a compact tuft. It needs glass protection in winter and is perhaps the most tender of the Eusempervivum section of the genus."

In April 2012, Cecilia Coller exhibited the plant at the AGS London show and was awarded a Certificate of Merit. The report in the Bulletin says:

"Her second Certificate of Merit went to an immaculate pan of Sempervivum erythraeum. Unusual in this genus for its understated, velvety grey-green leaves, tinted with pink, and acknowledged as slower than most to bulk up, this Bulgarian endemic spends most of its time in an alpine house, which prevents birds from pecking the rosettes and avoids the compost becoming too soggy. Unlike most of its bretheren, it will not tolerate winter wet and should be taken under glass in winter."



9th August 2018 3rd July 2019 18th March 2022



References:
  • Smith, Alan C. - Sempervivum and Jovibarbas , revised ed. 1980
  • Furness, Steve - Sempervivum, a gardeners guide, Alpine Garden Society, 2023
  • Wills, Howard and Sally - Sempervivum and Jovibarba, 2004
  • International Sempervivum Forum, https://sempervivum.aforumfree.com/.
  • Diehm, Horst - sempervivumpage.de, 2001, autotranslated, no longer available online.
  • Sempervivum List online, https://www.sempervivum-liste.de/de, accessed 13.05.2025.
  • AGS Encyclopedia online, http://encyclopaedia.alpinegardensociety.net/plants/Sempervivum/erythraeum , accessed 13.05.2025.
  • AGS Encyclopedia online, http://encyclopaedia.alpinegardensociety.net/plants/Sempervivum/CULTIVARS , accessed 12.06.2025.
  • Martin Miklanek, List of Sempervivum and Jovibarba cultivars, https://miklanek.tripod.com/MCS/cvA-E.html , accessed 12.06.2025.
  • Sempervivum Garden, https://sempervivumgarten.de , accessed 12.06.2025.
  • Plants of the World online, https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:276428-1 , accessed 13.05.2025.
  • Miller, Hugh F. R. - 'An introduction to the genus Sempervium', Bulletin of the AGS, Vol.3, p.275 (1935)
  • Fitzpatrick, John - Show reports, Bulletin of the AGS, Vol.80 part.4, p.446 (2012)