Rosularia sempervivoides

Rosularia is a small genus of the family Crassulaceae. It includes about 28-35 species from Europe, the Himalayas, and northern Africa.

Taxonomy

Rosularia was originally described by De Candolle (1828) as a section of the genus Umbilicus, and raised to the level of genus by Stapf (1923) Thus the genus bears the botanical authority (DC) Stapf of both authors.

In 1930, Berger included it in family Crassulaceae subfamily Sedoideae, as one of 9 genera. He further divided it into two sections (Eu-Rosularia and Ornithogalopsis) and further series, transferring some species of Sedum to it. Since then, a number of species have been transferred in and out of the genus, including S. sempervivoides, which at one stage was placed in Prometheum. The genus Sempervivella was submerged in Rosularia. The genus is now placed within the Leucosedum clade, tribe Sedeae, subfamily Sempervivoideae of the Crassulaceae, but is embedded within Sedum paraphyletically.

Species

Rosularia contains about 28 species. The following species and subspecies were accepted by The Plant List (2013):

  • Rosularia adenotricha (Wall. ex Edgew.) C.-A. Jansson Rosularia adenotricha subsp. viguieri (Raym.-Hamet) C.-A. Jansson
  • Rosularia aizoon (Fenzl) A. Berger
  • Rosularia alpestris (Kar. & Kir.) Boriss Rosularia alpestris subsp. marnieri(Raymond-Hamet ex H. Ohba) Eggli
  • Rosularia blepharophylla Eggli
  • Rosularia borissovae U.P.Pratov
  • Rosularia chrysantha (Boiss. & Heldr. ex Boiss.) Takhtajan
  • Rosularia cypria (Holmboe) Meikle
  • Rosularia davisii Muirhead
  • Rosularia elymaitica (Boiss. & Hausskn. ex Boiss.) A. Berger
  • Rosularia glabra (Regel & Winkl.) A.Berger
  • Rosularia globulariifolia (Fenzl) A. Berger
  • Rosularia haussknechtii (Boiss. & Reut. ex Boiss.) A. Berger
  • Rosularia jaccardiana (Maire & Wilczek) H. Ohba
  • Rosularia libanotica (L.) Sam.
  • Rosularia lineata (Boiss.) A.Berger
  • Rosularia lutea Boriss.
  • Rosularia pallida (Schott & Kotschy) Stapf
  • Rosularia pallidiflora (Holmboe) Meikle
  • Rosularia persica (Boiss.) A. Berger
  • Rosularia pilosa (Fischer ex M. Bieberstein) Boriss.
  • Rosularia platyphylla (Schrenk) A.Berger
  • Rosularia radicosa (Boiss. & Hohen.) Eggli
  • Rosularia rechingeri C.-A. Jansson
  • Rosularia rosulata (Edgew.) H. Ohba
  • Rosularia schischkinii Boriss.
  • Rosularia sedoides (Decne.) H. Ohba
  • Rosularia semiensis (J. Gay ex A. Richard) H. Ohba
  • Rosularia sempervivoides (Fischer ex M. Bieberstein) Boriss.
  • Rosularia serpentinica (Werderm.) Muirhead
  • Rosularia serrata (L.) A.Berger
  • Rosularia subspicata (Freyn) Boriss.

Distribution and habitat

Rosularia is found in arid and semi-arid regions from North Africa (Morocco, Ethiopia), through the eastern Mediterranean to Central Asia (north of Tien Shan and east of W Himalaya), including Pakistan.

Ecology

Rosularia is an important larval host for the Central Asian butterfly Parnassius apollonius.

Uses

A number of species are cultivated as ornamental garden plants, and have been used in traditional medicine.

Bibliography