Sedum adolphii, Carl Albert Purpus, and the Sulphur Spring mystery

摘要

For over one hundred vears Sedum adolphii has been widely cultivated as an ornamental, yet its wild origins escaped detection tor decades following its description, which gave a long-forgotten place name as the type locality. Sedum adolphii is endemicto the ravines and lava flows of the central part of Veracruz state, in eastern Mexico, where it grows either hanging from rocky cliffs or upright on lava flow. It is abundant in tropical deciduous forest from 400-850 meters above sea level and flowersfrom March to May. But because its habitat is known to very few people, information about its wild origins is scanty.