Flora of North America species comparison

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Dudleya attenuata

Dudleya parva

Orcutt's dudleya, tapertip liveforever

Conejo dudleya, Conejo or Diablo Range dudleya
Caudices

often branching apically, 3–5 × 0.1–0.7 cm, (from root ca. 3 mm thick but strongly constricted irregularly), axillary branches absent.
Leaves

withering in early summer;

rosettes 1–3, (in clumps), 5–10-leaved, 1–3 cm diam.;

blade green, becoming purplish, linear to oblanceolate, 1.5–5 × 0.3–0.7 cm, 1.5–2 mm thick, base 0.5–1.1 cm wide, apex acute, subapiculate, surfaces not farinose, slightly glaucous.
Inflorescences

cymes 2–3-branched, obpyramidal;

branches not twisted (flowers on topside), simple or 1 times bifurcate, (3–5 cm wide);

cincinni mostly 1–2, (simple), 5–12-flowered, not circinate, 3–8 cm;

floral shoots 5–18 × 0.1–0.2 cm;

leaves 10–20, ascending, triangular-ovate, 5–15 × 3–6 mm, apex acute.
Pedicels

erect, not bent in fruit, (stout), 1–3 mm.
Flowers

calyx 3–5 × 3–5 mm;

petals connate 1–2 mm, pale yellow, sometimes red-lineolate, 8–12 × 2–3.5 mm, apex broadly acute, tips slightly outcurved;

pistils connivent, erect.
California

Unripe

follicles erect.
2n

= 34.

Dudleya attenuata

Dudleya parva
Phenology Flowering late spring.
Habitat Gravelly clay soil
Elevation 100-400 m (300-1300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; nw Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 2 (1 in the flora).

Subspecies australis Moran occurs in Baja California.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Of conservation concern.

Dudleya parva is known only from Ventura County; it is considered fairly threatened (California Native Plant Society, http://cnps.web.aplus.net/cgi-bin/inv/inventory.cgi). Plants reported as D. parva from San Luis Obispo County (R. F. Hoover 1965, 1970) appear to be a small form of D. abramsii subsp. bettinae.

Dudleya parva is distinguished by its small size and its fugacious rosette leaves. Mature plants look like seedlings flowering precociously. They are leafless in summer and fall, like D. cymosa subsp. marcescens and like members of subg. Hasseanthus. Flower structure, and particularly the insertion of the stamens, indicates that it is related to D. abramsii. The epipetalous filaments of D. parva are 4–9.5 mm and adnate 1–1.5 mm, the antisepalous ones are 5–10 mm, adnate 1.5–2 mm. Dudleya abramsii is a larger plant, with persistent rosettes of more numerous and usually larger leaves, with longer and more slender pedicels, and usually with a longer corolla tube.

Dudleya parva is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants as D. abramsii subsp. parva.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 176. FNA vol. 8, p. 186.
Parent taxa Crassulaceae > Dudleya > subg. Stylophyllum Crassulaceae > Dudleya > subg. Dudleya
Sibling taxa
D. abramsii, D. arizonica, D. blochmaniae, D. brevifolia, D. candelabrum, D. cespitosa, D. cymosa, D. densiflora, D. edulis, D. farinosa, D. gnoma, D. greenei, D. lanceolata, D. multicaulis, D. nesiotica, D. palmeri, D. parva, D. pulverulenta, D. saxosa, D. stolonifera, D. traskiae, D. variegata, D. verityi, D. virens, D. viscida
D. abramsii, D. arizonica, D. attenuata, D. blochmaniae, D. brevifolia, D. candelabrum, D. cespitosa, D. cymosa, D. densiflora, D. edulis, D. farinosa, D. gnoma, D. greenei, D. lanceolata, D. multicaulis, D. nesiotica, D. palmeri, D. pulverulenta, D. saxosa, D. stolonifera, D. traskiae, D. variegata, D. verityi, D. virens, D. viscida
Subordinate taxa
D. attenuata subsp. attenuata
Synonyms Cotyledon attenuata, Stylophyllum attenuatum D. abramsii subsp. parva
Name authority (S. Watson) Moran: Desert Pl. Life 14: 191. (1943) Rose & Davidson: Bull. S. Calif. Acad. Sci. 22: 5. 1923 ,
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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