Dudleya lanceolata
Dudleya cymosa
lance-leaf dudleya, lanceleaf liveforever, Southern California dudleya
canyon liveforever, canyon liveforever or dudleya, rock-lettuce
simple or apically branched and cespitose, 1–5 × 1–3 cm, axillary branches absent.
mostly simple or sometimes branched apically and cespitose, 0.1–5 × (0.2–)1–3.5 cm, axillary branches absent.
rosettes 1–7, not in clumps, 10–25(–30)-leaved, 3–25 cm diam.;
blade green, oblong-lanceolate, 4–30 × 0.5–4 cm, 1.5–6 mm thick, base 1–3 cm wide, apex acute to acuminate, surfaces not farinose, sometimes glaucous.
persistent (withering in early summer in subsp. marcescens);
rosettes 1–3, in clumps or not, 5–25-leaved, (3–)6–15(–35) cm diam.;
blade green or gray-blue, usually oblanceolate or oblong-oblanceolate, rhombic-oblanceolate, oblong, elliptic, or ovate, to spatulate, sometimes oblong-triangular, 1.5–12(–17) × 0.5–4(–6) cm, 1–5 mm thick, base 0.5–3 cm wide, apex acute to acuminate or cuspidate or subobtuse, surfaces sometimes farinose, mostly glaucous.
cyme mostly 2–3-branched, obpyramidal;
branches not twisted (flowers on topside), simple or 1-times bifurcate, (5–16 cm diam.);
cincinni 2–3, 2–20-flowered, circinate, 2–15(–25) cm;
floral shoots 15–90(–120) × 0.3–1.2 cm;
leaves 18–40, spreading to ascending, triangular-lanceolate to -ovate, 10–30(–50) × 3–18 mm, apex acute, in age straight and erect to spreading.
cyme 2–4-branched, mostly obpyramidal;
branches not twisted (flowers on topside), simple or 1–3 times bifurcate, less often also with lateral branches;
cincinni 1–2(–3+), 1–6(–20)-flowered, circinate, 1–5(–17) cm;
floral shoots 4–30(–50) × 0.1–0.8 cm;
leaves 5–25(–50), spreading to ascending, blade cordate-ovate to triangular-lanceolate, 4–20(–50) × 4–10(–15) mm, apex acute to acuminate.
erect, not bent in fruit, 2–6(–12) mm.
erect, not bent in fruit, usually 5–15 mm.
calyx 4–7 × 5–8 mm;
petals connate 1–2 mm, bright yellow or usually red or red-flushed or -marked abaxially, greenish to orange-yellow adaxially, 10–16 × 2.5–5 mm, apex acute, tips slightly outcurved;
pistils connivent, erect.
calyx 3–6 × 3–6 mm;
petals connate 1–2.5 mm, pale or bright yellow, mustard yellow, or red, 7–14 × 1.5–4.5 mm, apex mostly narrowly acute, tips often outcurved;
pistils connivent, erect.
follicles erect.
follicles erect.
= 68.
= 34.
Dudleya lanceolata
Dudleya cymosa
Dudleya lanceolata is wide-ranging, from Monterey and western Kern counties southward through San Diego County, variable, and ill-defined. It varies locally in size of parts and in flower color but does not seem easily divisible into smaller units. N. L. Britton and J. N. Rose (1903, 1905) proposed seven additional species of southern California or of unstated origin that seem best included here. On the basis of 18 or more well-scattered collections, it is tetraploid; it seems best defined partly on that basis. Similar plants from Aliso Canyon, Orange County, are octoploid (C. H. Uhl and R. V. Moran 1953, as D. sp. aff. D. lanceolata); this is one of several scattered coastal populations with the caudex elongate. Another is D. elongata Rose, from near San Pedro, of which later collections are tetraploid.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Subspecies 8 (8 in the flora).
Dudleya cymosa, a widespread diploid, is the only species of the genus in most parts of inland central and northern California; it also extends into the mountains of southern California. It forms clumps to 7 dm in diameter. Early floras misapplied to it the name Echeveria laxa Lindley (or Cotyledon laxa). It is clearly distinct from other species but is highly variable locally as well as from one area to another. Although some narrowly endemic subspecies seem almost distinct, most subspecies are ill-defined and their circumscriptions arbitrary. Much more study is needed.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Rosette leaves withering in summer, blade 1.5-3(-5) × 0.5-1.5 cm; caudices 0.2-0.7 cm diam.; cincinni 1-2. | subsp. marcescens |
1. Rosette leaves persistent, blade 1.5-17 × 0.5-6 cm; caudices 0.5-3.5 cm diam.; cincinni 3+ | → 2 |
2. Floral shoots 20-50-leaved; rosette leaf blades elliptic to spatulate, 4-10(-15) × 2-5 cm. | subsp. crebrifolia |
2. Floral shoots 5-20(-30)-leaved; rosette leaf blades ovate, elliptic, oblong, rhombic-oblanceolate or oblong-oblanceolate to oblanceolate or oblong-triangular or spatulate, 1.5-17 × 0.5-6 cm | → 3 |
3. Petals pale yellow; rosette leaf blades 0.5-2 cm wide. | subsp. paniculata |
3. Petals bright yellow to red; rosette leaf blades 1-6 cm wide | → 4 |
4. Rosettes 5-10(-25)-leaved, blade 2-10 × 1-2.5 cm, apex acute to acuminate; petals bright yellow, sometimes marked with red | → 5 |
4. Rosettes usually 10-25-leaved, blades 1.5-17 × 1-6 cm, apex often short-acuminate to cuspidate, sometimes acute; petals bright yellow to red | → 6 |
5. Leaf blades green, often with maroon abaxially; caudices simple; floral shoots 4-15 cm. | subsp. ovatifolia |
5. Leaf blades blue-gray on both surfaces; caudices simple or mostly cespitosely 1-5-branched; floral shoots 10-20 cm. | subsp. agourensis |
6. Floral shoots 15-45 cm; cincinni 4-17 cm, 5-20-flowered; rosette leaf blades farinose, 4-17 cm; petals red. | subsp. gigantea |
6. Floral shoots 5-30 cm; cincinni mostly 1-6 cm, 3-10-flowered; rosette leaf blades sometimes farinose, 1.5-12 cm; petals bright yellow to red | → 7 |
7. Rosette leaf blades 3-12 × 1-5.5 cm; floral shoots 5-30 cm. | subsp. cymosa |
7. Rosette leaf blades 1.5-5(-10) × 1-3(-6) cm; floral shoots 5-15 (-25) cm. | subsp. pumila |
CA
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