Cobweb Houseleek (Sempervivum arachnoideum)

Another Saturday so another day prepping the Lodge.  No blip from the walk to the bins as the guests had emptied all the bins for us.  So instead this is one of the Houseleeks growing under the front of the verandah.  

This one is called the Cobweb Houseleek for obvious reasons, even the species name arachnoideum points towards spiders.  The name Houseleek is interesting.  It would appear that from Roman times onwards Sempervivum were grown on thatched rooves in the belief that the amount of water stored in the succulent leaves helped to reduce the fire risk.  The name leek is suggested to come from the Anglo-Saxon word leac meaning plant.