Authors: DC.
Loosely but neatly mat- forming to 5cm tall. Stems wiry, 5cm high, mostly upright. Leaves in four vertical columns. Pruinose, tinged red, ovoid, 2mm long. Flowers few, five petalled, white with purple anthers and red nerves. Grown for its highly attractive pruinose columns. Needs to be dry in winter. Three forms appear to be in cultivation, the form described by Praeger is very small and most uncommon. South-western Europe and Morocco in dry places. S.b. var. quinquefarium often described as a separate species is a form with 4mm long leaves in four vertical columns or five spiralled columns, sometimes both on the same plant. Plants sold under this name are usually a form of S. dasyphyllum (var. macrophyllum), these are glaucous rather than pruinose and have no deep red in the leaves. This impostor is also prostrate and very turgid looking. The true plant is most eye-catching and worth tracking down. S.b. subsp. novum has bright green, yellow or red leaves, not pruinose. It needs more protection. Central Spain, Picos de Urbion and other alpine areas of Iberia such as Serra da Estrella, Serra do Marao. At very high altitudes often a whole range of plants from glaucous to glabrous may be found with leaves in four or five columns. A form is known from the Sierra Nevada, Spain, with globular, mid-green to yellowish leaves.
