Miniature/pygmy Joshua tree

Description

Sedum multiceps, also known as miniature/pygmy Joshua tree, is a perennial, deciduous species of Sedum from the succulent plant family Crassulaceae, native to Algeria. The plant is nicknamed for its glaucous leaves that grow in clusters, resembling Yucca brevifolia. It was named officially as a distinct species in 1862. Sedum multiceps has a many-branched, shrubby habit, and consists of grayish-green leaves growing at the tips of its branches. It grows shallow roots and mats of short woody stems which spread rapidly across large areas, and sprouts bright yellow, star-shaped flowers in late summer. Sedum multiceps is cultivated as an ornamental plant, typically for planting in containers or in gardens as groundcover. It needs very little attention, and tolerates all but the most loamy soil. Sedum is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, members of which are commonly known as stonecrops. The genus has been described as containing up to 600 species, subsequently reduced to 400–500. They are leaf succulents found primarily in the Northern Hemisphere, but extending into the southern hemisphere in Africa and South America. The plants vary from annual and creeping herbs to shrubs. The plants have water-storing leaves. The flowers usually have five petals, seldom four or six. There are typically twice as many stamens as petals. Various species formerly classified as Sedum are now in the segregate genera Hylotelephium and Rhodiola. Sedum was first formally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, with 15 species. Of the genera encompassed by the Crassulaceae family, Sedum is the most species rich, the most morphologically diverse and most complex taxonomically. Historically it was placed in the subfamily Sedoideae, of which it was the type genus. Of the three modern subfamilies of the Crassulaceae, based on molecular phylogenetics Sedum is placed in the subfamily Sempervivoideae. Although the genus has been greatly reduced, from about 600 to 420–470 species, by forming up to 32 segregate genera, it still constitutes a third of the family and is polyphyletic.