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Orpine (Sedum telephium)

An easily recognizable plant with its grey-green fleshy leaves and solid flower-clusters that attract a profusion of bees and flies in later summer. It is a native to Britain, and found locally as here along coastal banks, but may also be a garden escape.
Orpine is richly endowed with myth, magic and medicinal virtue. One of its names is 'livelong' since (due to its succulent leaves) it takes many months to wither, as a result it was used for divination and for signifying the presence of a witch or the success of a romance according to whether it faded or flourished. Another old name, 'midsummer men' relates to the custom of keeping it in the house from June to December in order that its tenacity to life would confer the same benefit upon the household.
Medically, it was regarded as useful against sterility, fever, bleeding and cancer. In Wales it featured in the herbal of the physicians of Myddfai and was known as 'cerwr Taliesin' (Taliesin's cress) since the leaves could also be eaten as a salad; the roots too are said to be edible.
(Acknowledgements to Geoffrey Grigson for most of this information)