PENTAPETALUM Borissova, 1939

Distribution : Turkmenia (Kopet-Dagh), north-western Iran, north-eastern Turkey?, Armenia, Azerbaidzhan, Russia (eastern Caucasus: Dagestan); dry stony and pebbly mountain slopes, 500 - 2000 m, flowers April to May.

Description (according to IHSP 2003) :

Annual erect herbs, unbranched except in the inflorescence, glandulose-pubescent, 5 - 10 (-15) cm.

Leaves sessile, alternate, elongate-lanceolate, obtuse, 10 - 20 x 1 - 3 mm.

InflorescenceS : Flowering branches erect, inflorescences corymbose.

FIowers 5-merous, subsessile, sepals oblong-triangular, acute, 1 -2 mm, corolla stellate, petals white or pinkish-white, 5-7 mm, elongate-lanceolate, stamens shorter than the petals, anthers dark violet.

Here belongs most of the material identified as S. hispanicum by Russian authors. According to the protologue, S. pentapetalum differs by its simple, erect stems (vs. branching from the base), 5-merous flowers and larger flowers and fruits. It is also similar to S. pallidum, from which it is distinguished by the simple stems and the connate and stellately divergent fruits. [V. V. Byalt]

See also Sedum eriocarpum, S. hispanicum, S. pallidum, S. rubens