Cobweb houseleek is a tiny hen-and-chicks whose leaf tips are laced together with white hairs, like a spider web stretched over each . It's native to the mountains of southern and central Europe and is grown in US rock gardens.
Appearance
- Appearance
- Each rosette is only about 0.2–0.8 in (0.5–2 cm) across, and they pack into low clumps 2–4 in (5–10 cm) tall that spread 8–10 in (20–25 cm) wide. Leaves range from green to red, crisscrossed with white threads.
- Flowers
- Pink, star-shaped flowers with a darker stripe down each petal, on a short stalk in summer.
Look-alikes
HouseleekSempervivum tectorum
Common houseleek is much bigger, about 1.5–4 in (4–10 cm) across, with only a fine fringe of hairs on the leaf edges instead of a web across the rosette. Its flowers are reddish-purple.
Why they get mixed upBoth are hen-and-chicks sold for the same rock gardens and pots.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Rock gardens
- Troughs
- Containers
- Range
- Native to European mountains, centered on the Alps and reaching the Pyrenees, the Apennines, and Corsica. In the US it's grown as a garden plant.
- Preferred conditions
- In the wild it grows on rocks, , and mountain meadows from about 900 to 9,500 ft (280–2,900 m). In gardens it wants full sun and does well in hot, dry spots. One Colorado source lists it as hardy in USDA zones 3–8.
Life cycle
- Reproduction
- Each rosette blooms once and then dies, but new rosettes (the 'chicks') grow on short runners and fill the gap.
Growing it
- Care
- Great between boulders and stepping stones, in rock gardens, troughs, and pots. Little care is needed beyond removing dead rosettes.
Name and classification
- About the name
- The species name arachnoideum means "cobweb-like." A subspecies, S. a. tomentosum, has denser, felt-like white hair and larger rosettes up to about 1.4 in (3.5 cm) across.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
More species to explore
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