Cliff Stonecrop    

This unusual wildflower is quite different in appearance from other flora in the Gallery because it is the first succulent.

Along with its relatives in the Sedum family, the agaves, cacti, and aloes, it is able to grow in very dry habitats.

Cliff Stonecrop, however, flourishes, not in a sandy desert wasteland but in the desert habitat provided by this limestone cliff.

Sedum glaucophyllum, growing in virtually no soil, subsists on leached minerals that collect in tiny cracks in the rock face. Its specialized thickened foliage allows it to retain whatever rain—or ground seepage, as above—is available.

It may be appear delicate, but Cliff Stonecrop is a very hardy native perennial!

Found only in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Maryland, it has been declared an endangered species in Maryland. 

In Virginia it is limited by its habitat requirements to the central and western parts of the state; fortunately, it is not  a threatened flora.

This exquisite miniature, standing less than a half-inch tall, clings to a shear outcrop overlooking the Shenandoah Valley hundreds of feet below.

These tiny, pure-white Sedum glaucophyllum blossoms truly grace this special ecological niche with a sublime, but fleeting beauty.

In just a few weeks, the delicate lily blossoms were gone,  superseded by stark-brown seed capsules.  

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Go back to the Main Directory to consider more lilies of the field.