Dudleya edulis

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Fingertips
H20150326-0089--Dudleya edulis--RPBG (16984448205).jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Saxifragales
Family: Crassulaceae
Genus: Dudleya
Species:
D. edulis
Binomial name
Dudleya edulis
(Nutt.) Moran
Synonyms [1]
  • Echeveria edulis(Nutt.) A.Berger
  • Sedum eduleNutt.
  • Stylophyllum edulis(Nutt.) Britton & Rose

Dudleya edulis is a species of perennial, succulent flowering plant of the Crassulaceae, known by the common names fingertips, lady-fingers, mission lettuce, or simply the San Diego dudleya. The common name "fingertips" denotes the finger-like shape of the leaves; the specific epithet edulis (meaning "edible") refers to the Kumeyaay people's traditional foraging and consumption of the plant's young scapes. Dudleya edulis is native to the dry, coastal cliffs and chaparral hills of Southern California and northern Baja California, where it has adapted to absorb as much moisture as possible from the nightly fog and marine layer which forms over the Pacific Ocean and gradually moves slightly inland, typically covering all plants and stationary objects in dew. In addition to its inherent drought-tolerance and xeric qualities, this species is also highly salt-tolerant, as it grows almost exclusively facing the ocean, often in exposed settings where it is subjected to regular periods of extreme wind and weather. The species may be found growing on rocky hillsides, sandstone sea cliffs, chaparral habitat, arid canyons, or rooted between exposed, bare rock crevices.

Contents

Description

Dudleya edulis is made up of an array of fleshy, finger-like leaves growing vertically from a caudex at or just below ground level. The fingerlike leaves are pale green, cylindrical and pointed, growing up to 20 centimetres (7.9 in) tall. [2] It bears a branching inflorescence 10–50 centimetres (3.9–19.7 in) tall, with several terminal branches each bearing up to 10 or 11 flowers. The flowers have pointed white to cream petals about a centimeter long. The bloom period is May to July. [2] The plant is diploid, with a chromosome number of n=17, which is the base number for Dudleya. [3]

Taxonomy

Taxonomic history

Thomas Nuttall discovered the species during his visit to California in the 1830s. He found it on the edges of "rocks and ravines, St. Diego" and named it Sedum edule, with edule (meaning "edible") probably referring to the use of the scapes of the plant as food by the indigenous peoples. Despite placing it in the genus Sedum , he noted that it was "a remarkable species apparently allied to Echeveria teretifolia." It is unknown why Nuttall chose to place the plant in Sedum, as he had described the other Dudleya of the region as Echeveria , but it is speculated that he placed it as a Sedum because of the spreading petals on the flowers. [3]

During their work revising the North American Crassulaceae, taxonomists Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose placed the plant in the new genus Stylophyllum, which was differentiated from their new genus Dudleya on the basis of round leaves and spreading petals. With Reid Moran's revision of Dudleya, the plants within Stylophyllum were moved, as Stylophyllum was merged into a subgenera of Dudleya.

Willis L. Jepson once regarded the nearby Dudleya attenuata as a subspecies of this plant, owing to their similar morphology, although they are very distinct. They can be distinguished by the fact that D. attenuata is a smaller plant, with slender and elongated stems, and fewer smaller leaves that are glaucous and clavate to some degree. The leaf bases are also higher, and the inflorescence is simpler with more remote flowers. [3]

It is known to naturally hybridize with Dudleya stolonifera, D. attenuata, D. brevifolia, D. formosa and D. blochmaniae where their ranges overlap. Most of these hybrids are uncommon, and the plants hybridizing with stolonifera may be backcrosses. [3]

Distribution and habitat

Dudleya edulis is endemic to chaparral areas and the many miles of sandstone ocean cliffs and coastal canyons stretching from Southern California and south into northwestern Mexico's Baja California. [4] In California, it is known from the coastal areas of Orange County and east through southern Riverside County; south through San Diego County, ranging roughly 40 miles inland from the ocean and at elevations of around 4,200 feet (approx. 1300 m) above sea level, in places. Its range continues south into the Rio San Vicente drainage in Baja California, a region spanning over 190 miles (305 km) inland from the Pacific coast and east towards the southwest flank of Cuyamaca Peak (the second-highest peak in San Diego). In its southern distribution, the plant is to be found primarily on north-facing slopes and cliffs as opposed to west-facing, maritime exposures. [3]

It grows in rocky slopes and soil, and on rock outcrops and ledges, from sea level to below 1,300 metres (4,300 ft) in elevation. [2] It is found in coastal sage scrub and chaparral and woodlands habitats. [4]

Cultivation

Dudleya edulis is cultivated as an ornamental plant, planted in native plant and wildlife gardens, drought tolerant rock gardens, and as specimens in pots. [5] [6] Thomas Nuttall noted the use of the plant as a food source by the indigenous occupants of the land, which gives the plant its specific epithet. [3] The native peoples would harvest the young tender leaves in spring, and eat them raw. The Tiipai members of the Kumeyaay had a specific name for the narrow-leaved Dudleya like this plant, calling them milh kajmila. [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>Dudleya virens</i> Species of succulent

Dudleya virens, the green liveforever or bright green dudleya, is an uncommon species of perennial, succulent plant in the family Crassulaceae, native to several coastal southern California and Baja California locations.

<i>Dudleya</i> North American succulent genus

Dudleya, commonly known as liveforevers is a genus of rosette-forming succulent plants in the stonecrop family, Crassulaceae, consisting of about 68 taxa in southwestern North America and Guadalupe Island. The species come in many forms, some large and evergreen, others geophytic and deciduous. Yet, despite their dramatic variations in appearance, most species readily hybridize. The flowers of Dudleya have parts numbered in fives, with the petals arranged in tubular, star-shaped, and bell-shaped forms and, when fruiting, are filled with tiny, ovoid-crescent-shaped seeds.

<i>Agave shawii</i> Species of succulent plant from North America

Agave shawii is a species of monocarpic succulent plant in the genus Agave, commonly known as Shaw's agave. It is a rosette-forming plant characterized by glossy, green leaves with toothed margins. After several years of slow growth, the plant puts all of its resources to produce a towering stalk of flowers, and then dies. The death of the flowering rosette is compensated by the growth of numerous clonal pups. This species is segregated into two subspecies, one native to the coast of southwestern California and northwestern Baja California, known commonly as the coast agave, and another native to the Baja California desert, known as the Goldman agave.

<i>Cneoridium</i> North American genus of plants

Cneoridium is a monotypic genus in the citrus family which contains the single species Cneoridium dumosum, commonly known as bushrue or coast spice bush. As a perennial, evergreen shrub, Cneoridium is native to the coast of southern California and Baja California, thriving in hot, dry conditions. This plant is characterized by a distinctive citrusy aroma and small, white flowers that appear from winter to spring. The flowers eventually become round berries that resemble a miniature version of the common citrus.

<i>Dudleya caespitosa</i> Species of coastal succulent plant from North America

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.

<i>Dudleya candelabrum</i> Species of succulent plant from the U.S.

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.

<i>Dudleya farinosa</i> Species of succulent

Dudleya farinosa is a species of succulent plant in the family Crassulaceae known by several common names, including bluff lettuce, powdery liveforever, and powdery dudleya. A coastal plant of northern California and southern Oregon, it is typically found on ocean bluffs just directly above the reach of the waves, and sometimes inland. Its appearance is characterized by lotus-like rosettes of beveled leaves, and in summer the plant erects a tall pink to red peduncle densely covered in bracts, topped with branches of pale yellow flowers. The green or white rosettes of this plant can be seen covering stretches of rocky coast and nearby islets.

<i>Dudleya pulverulenta</i> Species of succulent plant found in the U.S. and Mexico

Dudleya pulverulenta is a species of perennial succulent plant known by the common names chalk lettuce, chalk dudleya, and chalk liveforever. It is one of the largest Dudleya, with a silvery, waxy rosette that may greatly contrast with its habitat. It is also regarded as one of the most distinctive members of the Dudleya, with one of the most specialized inflorescences in the genus, adapted to hummingbird pollination through its red pendent flowers, the longest corolla, and the highest nectar output. Dudleya pulverulenta has the largest range of all Dudleya, over 1,000 kilometres (620 mi), being found from southern Monterey County in California to the Sierra de San Borja in southern Baja California. It is closely related to Dudleya arizonica, a smaller desert species that tends to lack the specialized floral traits, and Dudleya anthonyi, which differs in a few morphological traits and is restricted to the San Quintín Volcanic Field.

<i>Dudleya stolonifera</i> Species of succulent

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.

<i>Dudleya traskiae</i> Species of succulent

Dudleya traskiae is a rare succulent plant known by the common name Santa Barbara Island liveforever. This Dudleya is endemic to Santa Barbara Island, one of the Channel Islands of California, where it grows on rocky bluffs. The plant has a basal rosette of flat, spade-shaped fleshy leaves up to 15 centimeters long, which are pale green to yellowish. It erects tall stems bearing dense, rounded inflorescences of many bright yellow flowers.

<i>Dudleya viscida</i> Species of succulent

Dudleya viscida is a rare succulent plant known by common name as the sticky liveforever, sticky dudleya or the San Juan stylophyllum. It is endemic to California, where it is found on rocky slopes. It is unique among the genus Dudleya in that it has sticky, fragrant leaves, a trait only shared with Dudleya anomala.

<i>Dudleya brevifolia</i> Species of succulent plant from California

Dudleya brevifolia, is a rare succulent plant known by the common name short-leaved liveforever, short-leaved dudleya or rarely the Del Mar Hasseanthus. It is an edaphic endemic that only grows on Lindavista formation marine terraces, on surfaces with ironstone nodules. The leaves are deciduous, and disappear after the inflorescence develops. The small white flowers are star-shaped with a yellow center. After flowering, any above ground trace of the plant will disappear, and it survives under the earth with a starch-rich subterranean caudex. Dudleya brevifolia is only found on coastal mesas along a small strip of coast in San Diego County, California.

<i>Dudleya variegata</i> Species of succulent

Dudleya variegata is a deciduous succulent plant in the family Crassulaceae known by the common names variegated liveforever, variegated dudleya or rarely San Diego Hasseanthus. A cryptic plant that survives part of the year dormant underground from starch reserves in a corm, after sufficient rainfall, leaves will emerge, soon giving way to small inflorescences with yellow star-shaped flowers. It is native to Baja California and adjacent San Diego County in California, where it grows in several habitat types, including chaparral and vernal pools.

<i>Dudleya attenuata</i> Species of succulent

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. It is a rosette-forming leaf succulent which 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.

<i>Dudleya ingens</i> Species of succulent

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 appearance 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.

<i>Dudleya anomala</i> Species of plant

Dudleya anomala is a rare species of succulent plant in the family Crassulaceae commonly known as the Todos Santos liveforever. With a dense, cushion-forming habit, this leaf succulent is characterized by elongated stems, slightly sticky leaves, and bell-shaped flowers with white, spreading petals. This species is native to Baja California, Mexico, and is found primarily on islands and one coastal locality.

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.

<i>Dudleya saxosa <span style="font-style:normal;">subsp.</span> collomiae</i> Subspecies of succulent plant

Dudleya saxosa subsp. collomiae, known by the common name Gila County liveforever, is a subspecies of perennial succulent plant within the genus Dudleya native to central Arizona. It is characterized by showy bright-yellow flowers on an upright inflorescence colored pink, red or orange. The leaves are green or covered in a white, powdery wax. This species is found growing in rocky slopes, canyons, and crevices, and often on Sonoran Desert sky islands.

<i>Dudleya cymosa <span style="font-style:normal;">subsp.</span> pumila</i> Subspecies of plant

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.

References

  1. The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species , retrieved 28 July 2016
  2. 1 2 3 Jepson Flora Project (ed.). Dudleya edulis Jepson eFlora The Jepson Herbarium, University of California, Berkeley.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Moran, Reid (1992). "Dudleya edulis (Nutt.) Moran". Cactus & Succulent Journal of America.
  4. 1 2 Calflora: Dudleya edulis
  5. "Theodore Payne Foundation, California Natives Wiki: Dudleya edulis". Archived from the original on 2016-08-16. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  6. Las Pilitas Nursery Horticulture Database: Dudleya edulis (Fingertips, Lady Fingers, San Diego Dudleya)
  7. Wilken, Michael A. (2012) An Ethnobotany of Baja California's Kumeyaay Indians. Retrieved 10 November 2021