Sedum hutchisonii a New Species from Northern Peru

Abstract

Sedum hutchisonii, a new species of Sedum endemic from Peru is described. First collected by Paul Hutchison in Huancabamba 56 years ago, then by Myron Kimnach in Cajamarca 18 years later, and more recently by the two authors, it has been erroneously taken for Sedum incarum, S. jujuyense, S. reniforme, S. andinum and S. grandyi. It is rare, but it has a wide distribution in the departments of Piura, Cajamarca and La Libertad. Its flowers are minute, inconspicuous, urn-shaped and with strongly reflexed dark brown tipped petals, in comparison to the twice longer, greenish white, strongly keeled and almost straight petals of Sedum grandyi. To date, this is the northernmost endemic Sedum occurring in Peru, but it could also grow in Ecuador.