Aeonium korneliuslemsii H.Y. Liu
A. arboreum subsp. korneliuslemsii (H.-Y. Liu) Dobignard
Eng.: Moroccan aeonium. Spa.: Bejeque marroquí. Fre.: Joubarbe du Maroc.
Evergreen shrublet, hermaphrodite, up to 1 m in height on good soils, but due to its rupicolous character usually does not exceed 70 cm. Trunk with a lignified base, upper part and branches fleshy. Branches Erect, with white-greyish bark, glabrous, with numerous scars from fallen old leaves. Leaves grow together forming a dense concave rosette 6-17 cm in diameter at the end of each branch. Leaves (2.5-8 × 1.2-3 cm) obovate-oblong to spatulate, apiculate, sessile, subamplexicaul, green —sometimes becoming purple—, fleshy, glabrous, with the margin finely toothed in appearance (but this appearance is due to conical cilia 0.4-0.5 mm long). The centre of the leaf rosette born from a flowering stem 15 to 30 cm long, upright, with basal leaves that are smaller towards the tip. Inflorescence an ovoid panicle (8-18 × 8.12 cm), consisting of numerous floral cymes. Flowers with a green pubescent-glandular calyx, composed of 9-11 sepaloid lanceolate parts. Corolla with 9-11 linear-oblong petals (6-7 × 1.4-1.6 mm), yellow, that open like a star. Number of stamens twice as that of petals; filaments and anthers yellow. Fruit a small follicle with numerous fusiform seeds and striated lengthwise, brown in colour.
Flowering:
December to May.
Fruiting:
February to May.
Habitat:
Although it seems to thrive in all types of soil when cultivated, in nature it always grows on inaccessible rocky outcrops. Climate wise, it prefers warm, dry and semiarid environments.
Distribution:
Endemic to North Africa. It is distributed throughout the mountain ranges of the Macaronesian area in Morocco, mainly in the western edge of the High Atlas and the Anti-Atlas, as well as cultivated (Lakhssas Plateau, Sidi Ifni, Ifrane). Generally not common, however it can become locally abundant [Jebel Imzi Area (Anti-Atlas)] in the large rocky cliffs. There is one small remote relict population in Punta Pescadores (central coastal Rif), which origin and taxonomy should be studied.
Observations:
There is one very similar species, endemic to the Canary Islands, A. arboreum (L.) Webb & Berthel. (Sempervivum arboreum L.), whose name has been traditionally used for the Moroccan plants, since it has been naturalised for decades in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. A. korneliuslemsii differs from its canary relative by its obovate-spatulate and pulverulent leaves (in A. arboreum the leaves are ± lanceolate and greenish).
Conservation status:
Although it can become common in some areas, overall it is a fairly rare species. Currently, it is not assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.