Synonym: Sedum maximum; Sedum caucasicum;
Hylotelephium maximum ruprechtii.
Region: Europe, Caucasus, Turkey.
Habitat: dry stony and calcareous slopes in mixed deciduous forests; elevations from 1000 to 2500 metres; moderately cold-hardy plant; prefers a sunny position, also succeeds in some shade; grows best in a well-drained soil that retains some moisture during the growing season, drought tolerant once established.
Content: alkaloids, sedine, sedamine.
Ecology: immune to the predations of rabbits
Use: medicine; ornamental; food. edible leaves and young blooming stems.
BotanyShrub; robust; perennial; 30 to 70 cm tall.
Root: tuberous rootstock.
Stem: cluster of ascending stems.
Flowers: pink to reddish.
Pollination: by bees, lepidoptera.
TaxonomyHylotelephium maximum is often treated as being in a more loosely defined definition of the genus Sedum maximum. In the Flora of China it is moved to Hylotelephium. It is also often treated as a subspecies of
Hylotelephium telephium.