About Sempervivum montanum subsp. carpaticum Wettst. ex Hayek
Identification: The genus Sempervivum (houseleeks) is usually easy to recognize, though it can sometimes be confused with the genus Echeveria. Identifying individual Sempervivum species, however, is often difficult. A single clone can look very different under different growth conditions (modifications) or at different times of the year. All members of the genus are very similar and closely related to one another. As a result, many subspecies, varieties, and forms have been described without clear boundaries between them. This has also led to a high frequency of natural hybrids in the genus, along with the possibility of backcrossing these hybrids. Roughly 40 species can be distinguished across the entire range of the genus, but many more local populations exist that do not have formal nomenclatural status, though they sometimes have their own distinct traits. In the Alps, the most widely distributed species are S. tectorum (common houseleek, sometimes called S. alpinum), S. montanum (mountain houseleek), and S. arachnoideum (cobwebbed houseleek), each with several subspecies. The yellow-flowered S. wulfenii and S. grandiflorum, along with limestone houseleek (S. calcareum), have more restricted local ranges. S. dolomiticum and S. pittonii are rarer; S. pittonii is endemic to Eastern Austria. S. tectorum can be found growing more or less wild on roofs or old walls far outside its natural native range. It is an ancient medicinal plant and was associated with witchcraft; some superstitious people believe it can protect a house from lightning strikes. Habitat: Houseleeks grow across a range from Morocco to Iran, spanning the mountains of Iberia, the Alps, the Carpathians, the Balkan mountains, Turkey, the Armenian mountains, the northeastern part of the Sahara Desert, and the Caucasus. Their ability to store water in their thick leaves lets them live on sunny rocks and stony sites in mountain, subalpine, and alpine belts. Most Sempervivum are hardy to U.S. Department of Agriculture zone 4, and can tolerate warm climates up to roughly zone 9. Growth and reproduction: Houseleeks grow as clumps of perennial, monocarpic rosettes. Each rosette can reproduce asexually by producing lateral rosettes called offsets (commonly nicknamed 'hen and chicks'), or—only for Jovibarba heuffelii—by splitting of the rosette. They also reproduce sexually via tiny seeds. Typically, each plant grows for several years before it flowers. Their hermaphrodite flowers develop through a male stage first. After this stage, the stamens curve outward and spread away from the central carpels, making self-pollination fairly unlikely. Flower colors are reddish, yellowish, pinkish, or rarely whitish. Sempervivum flowers are actinomorphic (star-shaped) and have more than six petals, while Jovibarba flowers are campanulate (bell-shaped), pale green-yellow, and have six petals. After flowering, the original rosette dies, usually leaving behind the many offsets it produced during its lifetime. In food: The 9th-century Iraqi author Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq notes that houseleek juice, known by the medieval Arabic name bustan abrawiz, was used as a source of pink food coloring; it can also be mixed with saffron to produce a deeper yellow color than saffron alone produces.
