PITTONII

Analect. Bot, 19 (1854). This is a rare species which is restricted to Styria : Murtal near Kraubath, growing on serpentine rocks at low elevations, and probably not above 1500 m.  Although this species has been under cultivation for a great many years and frequently under its correct name, it remains rather rare in gardens undoubtedly because it is not a vigorous grower and tends to produce flowers abundantly, thus reducing its number of rosettes. S. pittonii is a very pretty species forming a very neat plant with dense, many-leaved, flattish rosettes 1,5 to 3 cm in diameter. Rosette leaves are incurved, linear-oblanceolate, acute at apex, glandular-hairy on face and back of leaves, ciliate on edges.

The leaf colouring is a sombre grey-green with a very small but distinctive purple tip. Offsets are short-stemmed, so that the plant forms a very close tufted habit. Flower-stems are 12 to 15 cm high, slender and clad with overlapping narrow leaves; inflorescence is comparatively small with quite large individual flowers 2 to 2,5 cm across, petals wholly yellow, filaments greenish-yellow, anthers yellow.

The Sempervivum most closely resembling S. pittonii is S. leucanthum but the offsets provide a good distinguishing feature, being in S. pittonii very short-stemmed, resulting in a tufted plant, while in S. leucanthum – long stemmed, thus a loose matted plant.

Cultivation is not difficult although it will not stand too much winter wet.

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