Sedum. Sedum acre. Biting Stonecrop, Wall Pepper.
Sedum. Sedum acre L. Biting Stonecrop. Wall Pepper. Small Houseleek. Mossy Stonecrop. Joubarbe acre, Poivre des Murailles, Fr. Mauerpfeffer, Steinkraut, G. (Fam. Crassulaceae.) —This European plant has escaped to some extent from the gardens and grows wild in New England. It is spreading moss-like, possesses small, very thick leaves and yellow flowers. It causes vomiting and purging, and applied to the skin produces inflammation and vesication. The fresh herb and the expressed juice have been used as an antiscorbutic, emetic, cathartic, and diuretic, and have been applied locally to old ulcers, warts, and other excrescences. Other species are less acrid, and are even eaten as salad in some parts of Europe. Such are Sedum rupestre L., and S. album L.. S. Telephium L. was formerly employed externally to cicatrize wounds, and internally as an astringent in dysentery and hemoptysis, and is still esteemed by the common people in France as a vulnerary. Ernst Mylius found in 100 parts of Sedum acre 2.2 parts of a soft, not acid resin, 12.80 parts of uncrystallizable sugar, and 12.40 parts of a soft acid resin, besides an alkaloid and inert substance. (J. P. C., 4e ser., xvii, 81.)
