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HOUSELEEK

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Originally appearing in Volume V13, Page 814 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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HOUSELEEK , Sempervivum, a genus of ornamental See also:

evergreen See also:plants belonging to the natural See also:order See also:Crassulaceae. About 30 See also:species are known in gardens, some of which are See also:hardy perennial herbs, and grow well in dry or rocky situations; the others are evergreen shrubs or undershrubs, See also:fit only for cultivation in the greenhouse or conservatory. The genus Sempervivum is distinguished from the nearly allied See also:Sedum by having more than five (about 12) petals, and by the glands at the See also:base of the ovary being laciniated if See also:present. The See also:common houseleek, S. tectorum (Ger. Hauswurzel, Fr. joubarbe), is often met with in See also:Britain on See also:roofs of outhouses and See also:wall-tops, but is not a native. Originally it was indigenous in the See also:Alps, but it is now widely dispersed in See also:Europe, and has been introduced into See also:America. The leaves are thick, fleshy and succulent, and are arranged in the See also:form of a rosette lying See also:close to the See also:soil. The plant propagates itself by offsets on all sides, so that it forms after a See also:time a dense See also:cushion or See also:aggregation of rosettes. The flowering See also:stem, which is of rather rare occurrence, is about i ft. high, reddish, cylindrical and succulent, and ends in a level-topped cyme, re-flexed at the circumference, of reddish See also:flowers, which See also:bloom from See also:June to See also:September. The houseleek has been known variously as the houselick, homewort or See also:great houseleek. Sedum See also:acre (See also:stone-See also:crop) is styled the little houseleek. In See also:Germany it is sometimes called Donnerkraut, from being supposed to protect the See also:house on which it grows from See also:thunder.

The leaves are said to contain malic See also:

acid in considerable quantity, and have been eaten as See also:salad, like Portulaca. S. glutinosum and S. balsamiferum, natives respectively of See also:Madeira and the See also:Canary Islands, contain a very viscou4 substance in large quantity, and are used for the preparation of See also:bird-See also:lime; fishermen in Madeira, after dipping their nets in an alkaline See also:solution, rub them with this substance, rendering them as tough as See also:leather. S. montanum, indigenous in Central Europe, according to See also:Gmelin, causes violent purging; S. arboreum, rb piya ae4'coov of Dioscorides, is employed in See also:Cyprus, the See also:East, and See also:northern See also:Africa as an See also:external remedy for See also:malignant ulcers, inflammations and See also:burns, and internally for mucous discharges.

End of Article: HOUSELEEK

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