Velebit

Mountain range Velebit in Croatia is a habitat of S. marmoreum - that grows on the north side of the mountain range.

This mountain range is close to Adriatic sea, it divides central Croatia from seaside.

Here's a link to very informative page - in English with plenty of pictures - on Velebit. At least it gives you some idea of what this is all about:

http://www.summitpost.org/area/range/151564/velebit.html

And here's a link to photos of plant and flower from habitat in north Velebit:

http://hirc.botanic.hr/fcd/Slika.aspx?IdPicture=12856 (flower)
http://hirc.botanic.hr/fcd/Slika.aspx?IdPicture=12857 (plant)

S. tectorum is also native to Velebit mountauin range.

Here is a fresh habitat photo. My friend Lana Đud was hiking on Velebit and she made a great habitat photo.
I'm not sure about the species, but plant was photographed near
Šugarska duliba (that's mountaineer shelter) at 1212 m

Thank you - Lana and Marko!!

Thank you for the photo - it is again Sempervivum marmoreum var. dinaricum.

My parents visited middle Velebit during the last weekend. They also made some photos of Sempervivums in habitat. According to sempervivophilia database ( http://stalikez.info/fsm/semp/site/yougo_gb.php#sm_14 )
this should be again S.marmoreum. Jezour maybe you could determine subspecies?
Enjoy the photos!

First series of photos is made at Sadikovac peak at 1268m.









And here are some photos of habitat:





Other photo of more reddish plants is made at Ljubičko brdo (1320m), also a peak of Mt. Velebit.



and a habitat:




Both localities are mentioned in Mr.Dumont's Sempervivophilia base.

Renata wrote:S. tectorum is also native to Velebit mountauin range.

So here is a contact zone between S. tectorum and S. marmoreum? Are they growing together and do they then form "hybrid swarms"? Or is there a clear border between both species? And how can you determine which is which when you see them in the field?

Marko, thank You for the photos. The photos are beautiful.

Now something about Sempervivums. It is not S. tectorum, the plants belongs again to Sempervivum marmoreum -> Sempervivum marmoreum var. dinaricum. Why?
First: Look at the rosettes and the leaves. The plants are not so big. The leaves are not so wide. There are quite many leaves in the rosette.
Second: Look at the ending of the leaves. The leaf is going thin gradually.

S. tectorum has bigger rosettes. There are less leaves in the rosette. The leaves are wide. The ending of the leaf is fast - the leaf is going fast wide under the top.

Although I have seen Sempervivum marmoreum var. dinaricum in the nature, I must think for a while to recognize them. The plants looks differently in the summer, in the autumn and in the spring. The plants show us their most important characters in the summer.

Sempervivum marmoreum var. dinaricum belongs to the group of very badly known species. We know, where should it grow, but only few people have seen these plants.

I think that the contact zone between S. tectorum and S. marmoreum var. dinaricum does not exist. S. tectorum is native in Istria and in the surrounding of Rijeka.

Thank you so much for this useful information.
This 2 species are very similar indeed. Here is a picture of
a specimen that should be S.tectorum. It is collected on Mt.Učka (Istria).

https://sempervivum.aforumfree.com/t1224-ucka

Last week I came back from South Velebit. I visited many mentioned habitats but I found no plants. It's possible that they weren't on my route but it's more likely (as I'm told) that Sempervivums are exterminated from many parts. They are cursed with this great charisma. Many people (including all of us) want to own them, but people too often go too far as in this case.
Please be carefull when collecting. We all want to have them, but remember that they only make true sense in their habitat where their evolution can flow undisturbed.
Please don't collect from the colonies that are already in the culture and that are too small. And of corse, be sure to exchange/give away plants.

I was told they still live on neraby, less popular and less traffic areas of South Velebit, so I really hope they will re-colonize  infested habitats.

Untill then, enjoy the view: