Sempervivum tectorum L.
= common (roof) houseleek
(tectum lat. = roof)

In old times, when roofs were mostly made of branches, bark, or straw, it was common to additionally cover them with grass sod. Since grass was not very good for this purpose, people also planted some houseleeks; plants that could stand the sunny and dry conditions of a roof. Roofs and leaves soon provided a protection against rain.

Bohinj, 600 m.

Thus the plant found a new ecological niche, until today the legend of its protective powers against storms is still alive.

Bohinj, 600 m.

The species is commonly found in the wild, but also in cultivation throughout Western and Central Europe. Rosettes are large; from 3 to 8 (14) cm in diameter, with wide succulent leaves which are oblong-lanceolate to obovate, with a stout, pungent mucro, glabrous or sometimes with few scattered hairs on the surface. Leaves are dark or glaucous green, trending from reddish to purple at the apex, and ciliated at the margins. The flowering stem is 20 to 50 cm high with reach inflorescence. The flowers are starry, 2 to 5 cm in diameter, petals are creamy to pink. There are 12 - 16 sepals and petals. Plants flower from June to September.

S. tectorum, seen as a general species, grows on acid, neutral or alkaline soil, with some forms strictly linked to specific soil type. Plants can be found in the wild from the Pyrenees and Spanish Catalonian hills to the Eastern Alps. The area of its cultivation is much wider, so it has often spread to areas where it could otherwise not be found in nature. Slovenia is on the ESE borderline for this species.

In Slovenia the species can be found in high mountains in the Julian Alps and Karavanke,  at the submediterranean climatic region of Slovenia on Karst from Caven to Nanos and Slavnik, in the Trebusa valley. The southeast place where it could be found is Kraski rob.

Nanos, 1000 m

In cultivation it grows in gardens, rock gardens and at gravesites.