Canyon liveforever | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Saxifragales |
Family: | Crassulaceae |
Genus: | Dudleya |
Species: | |
Subspecies: | D. c. subsp. cymosa |
Trinomial name | |
Dudleya cymosa subsp. cymosa | |
Synonyms | |
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Dudleya cymosasubsp. cymosa is a species of succulent perennial plant in the family Crassulaceae native to California. It is the autonymous subspecies for Dudleya cymosa , and is known by the common name canyon liveforever. It is native to the California Coast Ranges, the Sierra Nevada and the Santa Monica Mountains. It is characterized by bright-yellow, orange or red flowers and broad, wide leaves. This plant is commonly found growing on rocky outcrops, talus slopes, and in shaded canyons.
A solitary or few-branched rosette forming succulent with broad leaves and bright-yellow, orange, or red flowers.
Each basal rosette is formed on the apex of a stem, known as a caudex. The caudex is short, usually less than 5 cm long, and is 1 to 3.5 cm in diameter. It is typically unbranched, forming a solitary rosette, but may less commonly branch into a few rosettes. Each of the basal rosette is 6 to 20 cm in diameter, composed of 6 to 25 leaves. The leaves are typically 3 to 17 cm long, 10 to 60 mm wide, and 1 to 5 mm thick. The leaves are shaped ovate or deltate to oblanceolate or spatulate (shaped like a spoon). The margin (edge) of the leaves is often folded upward at the widest point, and the tip of the leaf is more or less recurved and is shaped acuminate to mucronate. [1] [2]
The inflorescence is typically asymmetrical radially, because the pedicels turn to the sun or away from the cliff the plant is on. The peduncle (floral stem) is 5 to 45 cm tall, 2 to 8 mm wide, and ascending. On the inflorescence are 7 to 20 bracts, positioned horizontally to ascending, and shaped ovate to triangular-lanceolate, with the tips acute to acuminate. The lowermost bracts are 0.5 to 3 cm long and 5 to 15 mm wide. The inflorescence branches 2 to 4 times, and then may subsequently branch 0 to 3 times. The terminal branches are circinate when young (spiral-shaped, like a fern frond unfurling), but are ascending in age, 1 to 17 cm long and with 2 to 10 flowers. Suspending the flowers are the pedicels, which are erect, the lowermost 5 to 15 mm long. [1] [2]
The calyx of the flowers is 3 to 7 mm long, and 2.5 to 6 mm wide. The calyx lobes (equivalent to sepals) are triangular to triangular ovate, 1.5 to 5 mm long. The corolla is cylindrical in anthesis, with the tips of the petals spreading from 45 to 90 degree angles. The petals are colored yellow, orange, or red, and may be glaucous along their midrib. The petals are shaped elliptic to narrowly lanceolate, with an acute tip, 7 to 15 mm long and 2 to 4 mm wide, connate (fused to form a tube) 1 to 2.5 mm. [1] [2]
Cladogram of Dudleya cymosa subsp. cymosa | |||||||||||||||
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The original description is from 1858 by Charles Antoine Lemaire, in the 10th issue of L'Illustration Horticole, as Echeveria cymosa. The type locality is probably California, as the description simply states "Californie? Třes distincte!" As there was no authentic type specimen, the neotype for the species is an illustration by John Gilbert Baker of Cotyledon cymosa in Refugio Botanicum. [1]
In their work on North American Crassulaceae, Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose placed Echeveria cymosa as Dudleya cymosa. With the recognition of infraspecific taxa, it became Dudleya cymosa subsp. cymosa. Reid Moran in the 1950s recognized a larger subspecies of Dudleya cymosa known as subsp. gigantea based on its larger size, but additional data proved this subspecies invalid, as the supposed larger size was not evident after numerous collections and data from cultivation. [1]
This plant is a diploid, with a chromosome number of n = 17, the base number for Dudleya. Phylogenetic analysis has placed this plant with the closely related to Dudleya cymosa subsp. paniculata and Dudleya abramsii subsp. setchellii. The other subspecies of Dudleya cymosa are not closely related. [3]
This species is endemic to California. It is distributed throughout the California Coast Ranges, reaching a northern extent in Humboldt County, also distributed in the Sierra Nevada, and in the Santa Monica Mountains. It is found in rocky outcroppings, talus slopes, and shaded canyon slopes. [2]
Dudleya abramsiisubsp. setchellii, known by common name as the Santa Clara Valley dudleya or Santa Clara Valley liveforever, is a member of the Dudleya genus of succulent perennials, members of the family Crassulaceae. The Santa Clara Valley dudleya, endemic to the Santa Clara Valley region in the southern San Francisco Bay Area, was listed on 3 February 1995, as an endangered species. It is considered to be a subspecies of Dudleya abramsii, but its taxonomic status is still unclear. Its closest relative is Dudleya cymosa subsp. paniculata, which is a morphologically similar sister taxon.
Dudleya caespitosa is a succulent plant known by several common names, including sea lettuce, sand lettuce, and coast dudleya. It is endemic to California, where it grows along the coastline in the southern half of the state. Taxonomically, this species is a highly variable complex of polymorphic and polyploid plants, closely related to numerous neighboring species such as Dudleya farinosa, Dudleya greenei and Dudleya palmeri. It is delimited from neighboring species on an arbitrary basis of distribution and chromosome number, and may not be immediately separable from the other species it approaches.
Dudleya candelabrum is a species of succulent plant known by the common names candleholder liveforever or candleholder dudleya. Endemic to California, this species grows wild only on the northern Channel Islands, where it is found in open rocky places and north-facing slopes. It is characterized by thin, spade-shaped green leaves and an inflorescence covered in long, reflexed bracts, with pale yellow flowers. It has been threatened by poachers shipping plants to South Korea.
Dudleya densiflora is a species of succulent plant in the family Crassulaceae known commonly as the San Gabriel Mountains liveforever or San Gabriel Mountains dudleya. A very rare plant confined to the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, California, it is known only from three to five spots in the mountain range, with an estimated 1,700 individual plants remaining. Growing in the cracks of the granite slopes of three canyons in this single mountain range, it is threatened by human activity such as rock quarrying and off-trail recreation.
Dudleya stolonifera is a succulent plant known by the common name Laguna Beach liveforever or Laguna Beach dudleya. This is a rare plant which is endemic to the coastline of Orange County, California. It is known from only about six populations in the vicinity of Laguna Beach, totaling about 30,000 individuals. It is federally listed as a threatened species of the United States.
Dudleya verityi is a rare species of succulent plant known by the common name Verity's liveforever. It is endemic to Ventura County, California, where it is known from only three occurrences in the vicinity of Conejo Mountain between Camarillo and Thousand Oaks. It probably occurs in a few additional locations nearby which have not yet been officially vouchered.
Dudleya attenuata is a species of perennial succulent plant known by the common name taper-tip liveforever, native to Baja California and a small portion of California. A rosette-forming leaf succulent, it has narrow pencil shaped leaves that can often be found covered in a white epicuticular wax. The thin, sprawling stems branch to form the clusters of rosettes, with plants creating a "clump" up to 40 cm wide. The small flowers are white or yellow, with 5 spreading petals. It is a diverse, variable species that extends from the southernmost coast of San Diego County to an area slightly north of the Vizcaino Desert, hybridizing with many other species of Dudleya in its range. Some plants with white or pinkish flowers were referred to as Orcutt's liveforever, referring to a former subspecies split on the basis of the flower color.
Dudleya ingens is a species of perennial succulent plant in the family Crassulaceae commonly known as the rock liveforever or Baja liveforever. A relatively large member of the genus Dudleya, this species has long green succulent leaves, and in April to June is characterized by pale yellow to white pink-tinged flowers topping tall, reddish inflorescences. It has a stem clothed densely with old, leathery leaves, and the inflorescence may be nodding, with the floral branches bearing the flowers tending to unfurl like the fronds of a fern. It is similar in appear to Dudleya brittonii, but differs in range and chromosome number. This species is endemic to the state of Baja California in Mexico, being found from Santo Tomás to the southern coast of the state.
Dudleya guadalupensis is a very rare species of succulent perennial plant in the family Crassulaceae commonly known as the Guadalupe liveforever. It is a rosette-forming leaf succulent, with foliage that is variously colored light green, green, and a waxy white. It is characterized by dense leaves that fold over the center in dormancy, a curving, sinuous flower stalk, and white, cup-shaped flowers. It is endemic to the rocks and islets off of Guadalupe Island, an isolated volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean located 241 kilometers off of the coast of Baja California.
Dudleya formosa, known by the common name La Misión liveforever, is a species of perennial succulent plant endemic to the Guadalupe Valley in Baja California. It is characterized by bright green leaves, red floral stems, and pink flowers.
Dudleya rubens is a species of succulent perennial plant in the family Crassulaceae known by the common name as the San Francisco liveforever, native to the mountains of Baja California Sur. It is a rosette-forming plant with waxy leaves, characterized by branching stems and dull red to apricot flowers. It is only found above 500 metres (1,600 ft) in the Sierra de San Francisco and the Sierra de la Giganta ranges in Baja California Sur, primarily on north-facing volcanic slopes.
Dudleya cultrata is a species of perennial succulent in the family Crassulaceae commonly known as the knife-leaved liveforever or the maritime succulent liveforever. This species is characterized by oblong, narrow green leaves and flowers with pale yellow petals that bloom from April to June. Although similar to Dudleya ingens, this species is most often seen growing sympatric with the larger, wax-covered Dudleya anthonyi. It is native to Baja California, occurring on the coast from Punta Colonet and San Quintin to El Rosario.
Dudleya cymosa subsp. paniculata, known by the common name Diablo Range dudleya, is a species of perennial succulent plant in the family Crassulaceae native to the Inner South Coast Range of California. It is characterized by pale yellowish flowers, oblong to oblanceolate leaves and a growth habit not limited to a single substrate. It is closely related to Dudleya abramsii subsp. setchellii.
Dudleya cymosasubsp. costatifolia, known commonly as the Pierpoint Springs dudleya or the Pierpoint Springs liveforever, is a species of succulent plant in the family Crassulaceae, narrowly endemic to a locality in Tulare County, California, United States. It is a clumping plant with small rosettes and bright yellow flowers, resembling alpine "cushion plants."
Dudleya cymosasubsp. pumila, most commonly known as the low canyon dudleya, chalky canyon dudleya or California live-forever, is a species of perennial succulent plant. It has diamond to spoon shaped leaves, sometimes coated with a fine white powder, and in May through July, bright red, orange or yellow flowers adorn the short inflorescence. A leaf succulent primarily found growing in rocky cliffs and slopes, it is endemic to California, and grows in the Transverse Ranges and South Coast Ranges, with some outlying populations. A variable plant, in some localities it is difficult to distinguish from other plants in the genus.
Dudleya crassifolia is a species of drought deciduous, corm-forming succulent plant known by common name as the thick-leaf dudleya. It is an incredibly rare and cryptic plant native to one small locale less than a hectare in area on the Colonet peninsula in Baja California. It is threatened by urban development, including a proposed seaport. It is characterized by white, spreading flowers with leaf bases that are persistent on the stem. Although it did not receive as much media attention as the neighboring Dudleya hendrixii, it has been noted that the plant has several similarities to cryptic succulents like Anacampseros.
Dudleya saxosasubsp. aloides is a species of perennial succulent plant in the family Crassulaceae known by the common names desert dudleya or desert savior. It is a rosette-forming species widely distributed throughout the Peninsular Ranges and desert mountains of California in the United States. It is characterized by bright-yellow or greenish-yellow flowers, and can be found in shaded crevices and slopes. Plants in western half of the range may grade into Dudleya lanceolata.
Dudleya cymosa subsp. marcescens is a species of summer-deciduous succulent plant known commonly as the marcescent dudleya or marcescent liveforever. Throughout the months of spring, it is characterized by a bloom of small, bright-yellow flowers with 5 petals, tinged with orange or red. It is a leaf succulent with a basal rosette, with the foliage withering in summer, going completely leafless, a neotenous trait in the genus. This species is endemic to the exposed volcanic rock of the Santa Monica Mountains in California, being found on shady slopes and outcroppings. It differs from its local congeners with its deciduous habit, slender caudex, and narrower leaf shape, although it is superseded in some of these characteristics by Dudleya parva, growing 13 km to the north, which has even narrower leaves and is quicker to lose them. Because of its restricted distribution and small size, it is vulnerable to habitat degradation and disturbance from acts of graffiti and rock climbers. It is listed as threatened by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
Dudleya virens subsp. extima is a subspecies of succulent plant in the family Crassulaceae commonly known as the Guadalupe green liveforever. It is a rosette-forming leaf succulent, with both green and white waxy foliage. It has white flowers with spreading petals that bloom from May to June. It is a somewhat small plant, continuing a southward trend of decreasing size relative to other Dudleya virens subspecies. This plant is endemic to Guadalupe Island in the eastern Pacific Ocean, which is 241 kilometers off of the Baja California coast. It is very rare, with this plant only surviving on sheer cliff faces and canyons, out of the reach of the former feral goat population rampant on the island. It closely resembles a miniature version of Dudleya virens subsp. virens, but it may be more nearly related to the local Dudleya guadalupensis.
Dudleya cymosasubsp. agourensis, commonly known as the Agoura Hills dudleya or Agoura Hills liveforever, is a species of perennial succulent plant. A rare and critically imperiled species from the Santa Monica Mountains in California, it is characterized by glaucous, gray-purple leaves, bright yellow flowers, and ascending bracts. A leaf succulent, it is found growing on west to northwest-facing open, rocky volcanic slopes.