Sempervivum ciliosum Craib

Taxonomy: Fam. Crassulaceae// Genus: Sempervivum// Species: Sempervivum ciliosum Craib.

Determined according to the botanical key provided by Favarger and Zésiger (1964 in Tutin et al.) and the morphometric traits according to Jovanovic et al. (2019). The species was not originaly included in the Flora of North Macedonia (Micevski, 1998). The Osogovo population shows some deviation of the morphometric traits when considering data provided by Tutin et al. (1964; 1993) – mainly plant height, leaf length and petal length. However, these characteristics are in accordance with the results provided by Jovanović et al. (2019) for S. ciliosum subsp. ciliosum, who reported higher values for the vegetative traits compared to previous reports. The petal length also matches the dimensions from this study.

The Sempervivum ciliosum complex consists of several species, variously treated as either forms or subspecies of S. ciliosum, or closely related distinct species. Currently, the accepted species in the Euro+MedPlantbase are Sempervivum ciliosum Craib, a Balkan endemic, S. galicicum (Sm.) Micevski, stenoendemic from Galičica (North Macedonia), S. klepa Micevski, stenoendemic from Klepa Mt (North Macedonia) and S. octopodes Turrill., endemic to Baba and Nizde (N. Macedonia and Greece). The current study confirms the population on Osogovo belongs to S. ciliosum s.s., which historically was not known for the flora of North Macedonia. It differs from the other taxa in a number of vegetative and floral characteristics (Table. 1). Accordingly, Jovanović et al. (2024) found significant differences in the leaf shape of the three species.

Table 1. Comparison of S. ciliosum from Osogovo with C. klepa and C. galicicum.

	S. ciliosum*	S. galicicum**	S. klepa**
Rosette leaf shape	Oblaceolate to spatulate, the widest part closer to the apex, leaf narrowed towards the base	Lanceolate to oblong-eliptycal	Lanceolate
Rosette leaf length	14-32 mm	12-15 mm	12-15 mm
Rosette leaf width	(3.5) 4-7 (8) mm	4-5 mm	4-6 mm
Petals number	12-14	11-12	11
Flower diameter	17-22 mm	c. 15 mm	up to 20 mm
Petal width	c. 1.5 mm	1.75-2 mm	1-1.2 mm
Ecology	Silicate (Osogovo)	Limestone – Galichica (strict calcicole)	Silicate (Klepa Mt.)

*measurements from the Osogovo population; **according to original description of the species.

Distribution: Balkan Peninsula according to The Euro Med PlantBase (Marhold, 2011).

Habitat: Found on silicate rock cliffs around lake “Gradche”, including the northern-most part of the gorge of “Kochanska” River and the rocky cliffs on “Golema” River above the Gradche waterfall.

Lifeform: Perennial succulent; Hemicryptophyte according to the Raunkiær classification with both basal and cauline leaves.

Flowering period: Early summer: JUN.

Locality: Rocky cliffs above the waterfall on “Golema” River, recorded 14.02.2026.

*Sempervivum ciliosum* – habit. Rocky cliffs above “Golema” River, 06.06.2026. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.

Locality: Rocky cliffs above the waterfall on “Golema” River, recorded 14.02.2026.

*Sempervivum ciliosum* – habitat. Rocky cliffs above “Golema” River, 14.02.2026. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.

Locality: Rocky cliffs above the waterfall on “Golema” River, recorded 21.04.2023.

*Sempervivum ciliosum* – habit. “Golema” River near lake “Gradche”, 21.04.2023. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.

Locality: Lake “Gradche”. Date: 28.06.2020.

*Sempervivum ciliosum* – habit in habitat. Lake “Gradche”, 27.06.2020.

Scaled images of specimen from lake “Gradche”.

Sempervivum ciliosum – inflorescence. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.

Northern-most part of the gorge of “Kochanska” River.

References:

Favarger, C. & Zésiger, F. 1964. Sempervivum L. In Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M., & Webb, D. A. (eds.), Flora Europaea. Volume 1. Lycopodiaceae to Platanaceae. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 352–355.

Jovanović, M., Lakušić, D., Gussev, C., Lazarević, P. & Zlatković, B. (2019). Morphological variability of endemic Sempervivum ciliosum subsp. ciliosum (Crassulaceae) from the Balkan Peninsula. Biologica Nyssana, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp.113–123. https://journal.pmf.ni.ac.rs/bionys/index.php/bionys/article/view/334/254 [Accessed 28.06.2020].

Jovanović, M. D., Lazarević, M. J., Lazarević, P. M., Lakušić, D. V. & Zlatković, B. K. (2024). Morphological variability of rosette leaves within Sempervivum ciliosum and S. ruthenicum complexes (Crassulaceae): the geometric morphometrics approach. Flora,
Vol. 320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.flora.2024.152619

Sempervivum ciliosum. Marhold, K. 2011+: Crassulaceae. – In: Euro+Med PlantBase – the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Published at https://europlusmed.org/. https://europlusmed.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/b646b39b-13b8-40ce-8164-bc571a930dac [Accessed 19.01.2026].

Sempervivum L. Marhold, K. 2011+: Crassulaceae. – In: Euro+Med Plantbase – the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Published at https://europlusmed.org/. https://europlusmed.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/e598ae1d-001f-4aa5-b493-5d72bd155e94 [Accessed 26.07.2026].

Marhold, K. (2011): Crassulaceae. – In: Euro+Med Plantbase – the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Published on the Internet http://ww2.bgbm.org/EuroPlusMed/PTaxonDetail.asp?NameCache=Sempervivum%20ciliosum&PTRefFk=7200000 [Accessed 28.06.2020].

Micevski, K. 1998. Sempervivum L., The Flora of the Republic of Macedonia. Vol. I, Book 4. Skopje: Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, pp. 1042–1048.

Last update: 26.07.2026.

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