Dudleya rubens | |
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At the San Diego Botanic Garden | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Saxifragales |
Family: | Crassulaceae |
Genus: | Dudleya |
Species: | D. rubens |
Binomial name | |
Dudleya rubens | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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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. [2] 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. [3]
A rosette forming succulent with a similar appearance to Dudleya arizonica, bearing glaucous rosettes with long flowers and erect pedicels. Flowering time is typically from April to May, but this can vary with elevation. [4]
This plant's vegetative leaves emerge from a basal rosette on top of a caudex. The caudex is 10 to 25 mm thick, and 5 to 15 cm long, and is usually solitary or few-branched, although there may be as many as 25 rosettes on top of a branching caudex. The rosettes are 6 to 11 cm in diameter and consist of 10 to 20 farinose leaves. The leaves are shaped oblong to oblanceolate, or rarely obovate, and have a tip that is shaped acute to acuminate or rarely cuspidate tip. The leaves are 3 to 7 cm long, 1 to 2 cm wide, and 3 to 5 mm thick, with the base of the leaves 1 to 2 cm wide. The rosettes are said to bear a resemblance to Dudleya arizonica . [3]
The peduncle is reddish, and is positioned ascending to erect, and measures 7 to 20 cm tall, and 2 to 6 mm thick. 10 to 18 bracts are present on the peduncle, although the lower 2.5 to 5 cm of the peduncle is leafless. The bracts are ascending to horizontal, and textured glaucous to farinose, shaped triangular to lanceolate, with the tips acute to acuminate. The lowermost bracts measure 7 to 15 mm long, and 5 to 8 mm wide, 2 to 3 mm thick. The inflorescence is reddish, consisting of 2 to 3 ascending branches which may bifurcate once, 2 to 12 cm long, with 2 to 12 flowers. The pedicels holding the flowers are positioned ascending to erect, with the lowermost pedicels 4 to 10 mm long. [3]
The calyx is 5 to 8 mm wide, and 4 to 8 mm high, with the tube 1 to 2 mm long. The sepals are shaped triangular to lanceolate, the tips acute to slightly acuminate. The sepals measure 3 to 6 mm long, 2 to 4 mm wide. The diameter of the corolla towards the base is 4.5 to 7 mm wide, and towards the mouth is 4 to 7 mm. The petals are colored reddish to apricot, shaped oblong, erect to slightly spreading at the apex (tips). The petals measure 8 to 15 mm long, and are 1.5 to 3 mm wide, being connate 5 to 7 mm. Within the flower, the epipetalous stamens are slightly longer. The anthers are yellow. [3]
Chromosome counts and morphology in Dudleya rubens vary based on the location of the specimens. In the Sierra San Francisco, specimens typically have a 34 chromosomes. The second form, 50 miles south, in the Sierra de la Palmas, has 68 chromosomes. Even further south, in the Sierra de La Giganta, some 100 miles south of the previous form, are specimens with narrower leaves with a greenish hue, a larger rosette, and 51 chromosomes. The Sierra de La Giganta form was once split into its own species, known as Dudleya carteri, in honor of the specimen's collector, Annetta Carter. [4]
This species is native to Baja California Sur, being the only Dudleya found above 500 m in the northern part of the state. It is native to the Sierra de San Francisco and the Sierra de Guadalupe in northern Baja California Sur, extending further south as the Sierra de la Giganta south of Loreto. The Sierra de San Francisco form primarily grows on north-facing volcanic cliffs, between 3,000 and 4,000 feet high. The Sierra de la Palmas form grows at 4,000 to 5,000 feet high. Finally, the species growing at the Sierra de La Giganta grows within 6 to 8 miles of the coast, at a height of 2,400 to 3,000 feet. [2] [4]
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 is not immediately separable from the other species it approaches.
Dudleya lanceolata is a succulent plant known by the common name lanceleaf liveforever or lance-leaved dudleya. It is an extremely variable and widely ranging species that occurs from Monterey County and Kern County in California south through Ensenada in Baja California. It is characterized by green to purple lanceolate leaves, red, orange, or less commonly yellow petals, and is typically tetraploid. Despite its diversity, it is quite stable as a species, but hybrids may be discovered with other species of Dudleya, which can make it difficult to discern in areas where numerous species converge.
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 brittonii, with the common names Britton's dudleya, Britton's liveforever and giant chalk dudleya, is a succulent plant in the family Crassulaceae. It is native to the coast of northern Baja California, Mexico. Both forms of the plant have yellow leaves on a clustered rosette atop a large reddish-purple peduncle. The white form of the plant has a chalky epicuticular wax that reflects light and reacts with water. The green form of the plant is more common and found throughout a wider range. It is among the largest of the Dudleya.
Dudleya rigida is a species of succulent perennial plant in the family Crassulaceae known commonly as the La Laguna liveforever. Characterized by a tall inflorescence with pendant yellowish-red flowers, it is a very rare plant whose existence was doubtful until botanist Reid Moran accidentally re-discovered it. It is endemic to the Sierra de la Laguna in Baja California Sur, Mexico.
Dudleya gatesii, known by the common name as Gates'liveforever, is a species of perennial succulent plant in the family Crassulaceae native to the central desert of the Baja California peninsula.
Dudleya campanulata is a species of perennial succulent plant known by the common name as the Punta Banda liveforever, native to Baja California and endemic to the Punta Banda peninsula, a promontory south of Ensenada that encloses the southern limit of the Bahía de Todos Santos, a deepwater bay. One of many species of Dudleya native to the peninsula and surrounding islands, it is distinguished by its campanulate flowers and its occupation of a narrow habitat that consists of ocean bluffs on the southern end of the Punta Banda, near the well-known blowhole La Bufadora.
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 cultrata, commonly known as the knife-leaved liveforever or the maritime succulent liveforever, is a species of perennial succulent plant native to Baja California.
Dudleya candida is a species of perennial succulent plant in the family Crassulaceae known by common name as the Coronados liveforever. It is a rosette-forming, green to white-colored leaf succulent, and in bloom yellow flowers atop red stalks stand above the foliage. It has some visual similarities to the mainland Dudleya brittonii, and has found uses in horticulture as an ornamental plant. It is restricted to the Coronado Islands, an island group off of the extreme northern Baja California coast, visible from the United States.
Dudleya arizonica, commonly known as the Arizona chalk dudleya and the Arizona liveforever, is a species of perennial succulent plant native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. It is one of two species of Dudleya that occur in Arizona, the other being Dudleya saxosa subsp. collomiae. It is the only Dudleya that occurs in Utah.
Dudleya acuminata is a species of succulent perennial plant in the family Crassulaceae known by common name as the Vizcaino liveforever. A rosette-forming leaf succulent, it has reddish yellow flowers that emerge from April to May. It is native to the Pacific coast of the Vizcaino Desert on the Baja California Peninsula, and on neighboring islands.
Dudleya rigidiflora is a very rare species of succulent perennial plant known by the common name Playa Maria liveforever, endemic to the coast of southwestern Baja California.
Dudleya nubigena is a species of succulent plants in the family Crassulaceae. It is a rosette forming perennial with flattish leaves. Endemic to southern Baja California Sur, the species is found in the Sierra de la Laguna and the surrounding lowlands, and on Cerralvo Island.
Dudleya abramsii subsp. abramsii is a species of succulent plant in the family Crassulaceae known by the common name as Abrams' liveforever. It is a small, delicate plant found growing among rocks, and is characterized by yellow flowers with a red tinge that emerge from May to July. It is native to the southern Sierra Nevada of California and the Peninsular Ranges across both the United States and Mexico.
Sedum alamosanum, known by the common name Alamos stonecrop, is a rare succulent plant native to the mountains of northwestern Mexico, found in Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Durango, Sinaloa and Sonora.
Dudleya albiflora, known by the common name white-flower liveforever, is a species of succulent perennial plant in the family Crassulaceae. It is native to the Baja California Peninsula. This species represents numerous populations with varying chromosome numbers scattered around the peninsula, but all share broad, common morphological traits such as white flowers and narrow leaves.
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. It is a clumping plant with small rosettes and bright yellow flowers, resembling alpine "cushion plants."
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 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.