I recently received a shipment from MCG and one of the semps I bought was 'Brown'.
Does anyone know if this is a valid cultivar name as I can't find it in the database.

Hi Angelo, I see it listed on the MCG web site, but I don't know of any cultivar simply named 'Brown'. I'm suspicious of such a name because possible it's a cultivar named 'Brown _________' (something), and the latter part of the name got lost. Did a check on the German site Sempervivum-liste.de, and it comes up with several names that start with "brown", but no name simply as 'Brown'.

http://www.sempervivum-liste.d...


But we do know a valid semp simply named 'Black', which is in the database, although even with that one the hybridizer is unknown, so here again it's likely that it's a plant that became known as 'Black' through one process or another, but possibly it's not one that was specifically chosen by a hybridizer. That's my guess anyways.

I remember having one called 'Brownii' (which I put on the label ) but then discovered that my plant may have been Sempervivum braunii (?) Here's a photo of a plant that was "mislabeled" too like mine was but both photos were placed In the database under S. braunii…

My photo with ID peeking out


Another member's photo with vendor's ID

I actually have a 'Brownii' but it so far doesn't look very much like my 'Brown' or the pictures on the MCG website.
My 'Brownii' looks a lot like the one in the second picture.

Angelo, contact Mountain Crest and ask the for the history/or source for your 'Brown'.

FYI, the name Sempervivum braunii comes from the earlier part of the 1800s, a time when taxonomy was in its infancy, and should be abandoned. According to the Catalog of Life (the resource that the NGA databases defer to), it lists no less than Sempervivum "braunii" having 5 synonyms, which are:

S. braunii Arcangeli (synonym for S. grandiflorum Haw.)
S. braunii Facchinetti (synonym for S. rupicola A. Kerner)
S. braunii Funk ex Koch (synonym for S. montanum subsp. stiriacum (Wettst. ex Hayek) Hayek
S. braunii Ledeb. (synonym for S. pumilum Bieb.)
S. braunii Maly (synonym for S. pittonii Schott, Nyman & Kotschy)

Therefor, there should be no database entry for Sempervivum braunii, as it's not a valid species. Similarly, the name Sempervivum brownii is not one that was ever published, and is most likely a spelling corruption of braunii, and is also not a valid taxon, it only exists in nurseries that hold on to these abandoned or corrupted names. There are hundreds if not thousands of valid species and cultivars to capture our attention and imagination.

There really isn't any information out there on S. 'Brown'.
I think at this time we won't add it to the database.

@Schrecka Annie, can you give us any information on this semp?

Hi Lynn! Sorry for the delay. This is one of those cultivars that came from our original purchase of the Russ Collection back in the 90s. I haven't been able to find any other information on it either, so it seems to be a NoID or a typo lost to time. We've got it out in motherstock, but I removed it from our catalogue a while back. I'll attach photos from May, early spring, and late summer.

schrecka said:Hi Lynn! Sorry for the delay. This is one of those cultivars that came from our original purchase of the Russ Collection back in the 90s. I haven't been able to find any other information on it either, so it seems to be a NoID or a typo lost to time. We've got it out in motherstock, but I removed it from our catalogue a while back. I'll attach photos from May, early spring, and late summer.

It sure is pretty thoguh!

Looking through my album of Japanese semp photos there is a semp labeled 'brownowo', I think it is brown owl, it is written in katana (i think, accoring to my friend) which is why there is spelling mistakes (Katana is based on sounds, i am pretty sure)

schrecka said:

I love the look of this semp whichever semp it is in the photo !!

Annie, thank you for the info.