Sedum kamtschaticum

👨‍🌾GARDENING TIPS👨‍🌾: Sedum kamtschaticum

• • FR: Sedum, une succulente résistante

  • ENG: Sempergreen, caring for your Sedum

Originally from the volcanic soils of the Kamchatka Peninsula – the most farthest East you can imagine inside Russia, then turn north – this low, spreading sedum will form a solid mat of foliage that will cover rocks, slopes, walls, paths, anything really.

As a ground cover, it helps with soil erosion control and weed suppression and its flowers support pollinators, contributing to the local ecosystem’s health.

Generally speaking, there are very few multi-tasking plants that thrive in volcanic soil and look fabulous doing it. So this one deserves our respect.

Genus name comes from the Latin word sedeo meaning to sit in reference to the general growing habit of many of the sedums (they sit and sprawl over rocks). Living the easy life they are.

Specific epithet means false. Though its use here is unclear… false sitting doesn’t make a whole lot of sense does it, would that be standing?

🌸 Floral Morphology: Sedum spurium

Sedum kamtschaticum a low-growing, mat-forming succulent in the Crassulaceae family, with slender, needle-like, glaucous blue-green leaves arranged along trailing stems.

In summer, the plant produces small, star-shaped, yellow flowers clustered in loose inflorescences (cymes).

Flowers are actinomorphic and hermaphroditic, with five sepals and five petals, and a superior ovary.

The fleshy, water-storing leaves give the plant its resilience under drought and help maintain turgor during dry periods.

🧬 Reproductive Biology

Pollination is primarily entomophilous, attracting bees and other small insects. Sedum propagates easily through leaf cuttings or stem offsets, allowing rapid vegetative reproduction.

Seeds are produced in small capsules but vegetative propagation is far more common in cultivation.

The plant exhibits Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM), opening stomata at night to conserve water while allowing photosynthesis during the day.

🦋 Ecology & Cultivation

Sedum thrive in well-drained, sandy or rocky soils under full sun, although it tolerates light shade.

It is drought-tolerant, frost-sensitive, and well-suited for rock gardens, containers, or as ground cover.

The plant is low-maintenance, requires minimal watering, and benefits from occasional pruning to remove damaged or overgrown stems.

Its vibrant leaf colors and compact growth habit make it popular for ornamental gardening and succulent collections.

Other Names

Caucasian stonecrop, Two-row stonecrop

Phedimus spurius

Origin

Kamchatka