Israel wildflowers | Spanish stonecrop

Sedum hispanicum, Pistorinia hispanica, Cotyledon hispanica, Spanish stonecrop,

Hebrew: צורית ספרדית, Arabic: عرف الديك

Scientific name:   Sedum hispanicum L.
Synonym name:   Pistorinia hispanica (L.) DC., Cotyledon hispanica L.
Common name:   Spanish stonecrop
Hebrew name:   צורית ספרדית
Arabic name:   عرف الديك
Family:   Crassulaceae, Stonecrop Family, טבוריתיים


Life form:   Annual
Stems:   5-20 cm high, erect, usually branching from base, glandular-pubescent
Leaves:   Alternate, cylindrical or tetete, succulent
Flowers:   Hermaphrodite, six-petaled, star-shaped, white
Fruits / pods:   Follicles, seeds elliptic-obovate, apex obtuse or papillate, base usually obtuse; surface longitudinal ribbed, ribs crenate, barely lustrous, brown
Flowering Period:   February, March, April, May
Habitat:   Hard rock outcrops
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands
Chorotype:   Med – Euro-Siberian
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Sedum, Latin sedo, “to sit,” in reference to the manner in which some species attach themselves to stones or walls.

hispanicum, Spanish.
Pistorinia, for Jacobo (Jaime or Santiago) Pistorini (fl. 1766 – 1775), a Spanish physician of Italian origin, physician in ordinary of King Carlos III.
Cotyledon, Greek kotylēdṓn, kotýlē, cotule, cup, a cuplike hollow, a cavity, from the cup-like leaves of some species.
The Hebrew name: צורית, zurit, tzurit, for sedum, stonecrop.

  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
  • The standard author abbreviation DC. is used to indicate Augustin Pyramus de Candolle (1778 – 1841), a Swiss botanist.