MARMOREUM Grisebach, 1843
Synonyms :
Sempervivum montanum Sibthorp & Smith (1806)
Sempervivum tectorum Boissier (1872)
Distribution : Balkans.
Description (according to 't Hart, Bleij & Zonneveld in IHSP, 2003) :
Rosettes 3 - 10 cm in diameter, stolons horizontal, finely pubescent.
Leaves obovate to obovate-spatulate or broadly lanceolate, mucronate to shortly acuminate, subterete, young leaves (offsets) strongly pubescent.
Flowering branches pubescent, leaves obovate or oblong to lanceolate, ± apiculate, erect.
Inflorescences corymbiform, generally with 3 forked cincinni.
Flowers : Sepals connate for up to 2.5 mm, lanceolate, acute to acuminate, reddish-green, 5 - 6.5 mm, petals linear-lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, red with a whitish stripe along the margins.
Cytology : 2n = 34.
Comprises aIl the diploid (2n = 34) red-flowered sempervivums of the Balkans. A very variable species, especially in leaf colour and persistence of pubescence on the leaves. Bellia & Andrade (1972: 39) based S. marmoreum ssp. rubrifolium on "S. rubrifolium Schott", but the latter name is not traced in Index Kewensis or elsewhere. Praeger (1932: 61) distinguished a S. schlehanii fa. rubrifolium on the base of a garden plant known as S. rubicundum, but it is uncertain whether this is the same as "S. rubrifolium Schott".
Four subspecies :
Sempervivum marmoreum ssp. ballsii (Wale) Zonneveld, 1999
Sempervivum marmoreum ssp. erythraeum (Velenovsky) Zonneveld, 1998
Sempervivum marmoreum ssp. marmoreum
Sempervivum marmoreum ssp. reginae-amaliae (Heldreich & Sartori ex Boissier) Zonneveld, 1999
See also : Alan Smith, The Genus Sempervivum and Jovibarba, 1980