Hylotelephium

Hylotelephium is a genus of flowering plants in the stonecrop family Crassulaceae. It includes about 33 species distributed in Asia, Europe, and North America.

Hylotelephium
Hylotelephium spectabile
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Saxifragales
Family:	Crassulaceae
Subfamily:	Sempervivoideae
Genus:	Hylotelephium H.Ohba
Type species
Hylotelephium telephium (L.) H.Ohba
Species
See text

Species in the genus, formerly included in Sedum, are popular garden plants, known as sedum, stonecrop, live-for-ever, or orpine. Horticulturalists have hybridised many of the species to create new cultivars. Many of the newer ones are patented, so may not be propagated without a license.

Taxonomy

Hylotelephium telephium and related species have been considered in a number of different ways since first being described by Linnaeus in 1753, including as a section of Sedum by Gray in 1821,^[1] or a subgenus. But these taxa are quite distinct from Sedum morphologically.^[2]

Hylotelephium is one of a group of genera that form a separate lineage from Sedum, and is closely related to Orostachys, Meterostachys, and Sinocrassula.^[3][4]

The separation and recognition of Hypotelephium as a genus separate from Sedum has varied over time. As of March 2025, Plants of the World Online (POWO) and World Flora Online both recognise the genus Hylotelephium, with both documenting 28 accepted species.^[5][6] In horticulture, plants may often still be referred to as Sedum, with which they remain closely related.

Species

The following species are recognised in the genus Hylotelephium:^[7]

Image	Scientific name	Distribution
	Hylotelephium anacampseros	Southwestern Europe
	Hylotelephium angustum
	Hylotelephium × bergeri
	Hylotelephium bonnafousii
	Hylotelephium callichromum
	Hylotelephium cauticola	Hokkaido, Japan
	Hylotelephium cyaneum
	Hylotelephium erythrostictum	Japan, Korea, Russia and China.
	Hylotelephium ewersii
	Hylotelephium maximum
	Hylotelephium mingjinianum
	Hylotelephium pallescens	China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Russia
	Hylotelephium pluricaule
	Hylotelephium populifolium
	Hylotelephium sieboldii	Japan
	Hylotelephium sordidum
	Hylotelephium spectabile	China and Korea.
	Hylotelephium sukaczevii
	Hylotelephium tatarinowii
	Hylotelephium telephioides	USA extends from Georgia to Illinois and New York, and it has introduced populations in Ontario.
	Hylotelephium telephium	Eurasia.
	Hylotelephium tianschanicum
	Hylotelephium uralense
	Hylotelephium ussuriense
	Hylotelephium verticillatum	China, Japan, Korea, Russia
	Hylotelephium viride
	Hylotelephium viviparum

Hybrids

• Hylotelephium hybrids

Etymology

Hylotelephium means 'woodland distant lover'. 'Hylo' is derived from Greek, meaning 'forest' or 'woodland'. 'Telephium', also derived from Greek, means 'distant-lover'; the plant was thought to be able to indicate when one's affections were returned.^{[8][citation needed]}