Dudleya lanceolata
Dudleya greenei
lance-leaf dudleya, lanceleaf liveforever, Southern California dudleya
Greene's dudleya, Greene's live forever
simple or apically branched and cespitose, 1–5 × 1–3 cm, axillary branches absent.
branched apically, (cespitose), 10–50 × 2–5 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.
rosettes 200–300, in clumps, 15–40(–65)-leaved, 5–15 cm diam.;
blade green, oblong-oblanceolate to -obovate, 3–11 × 1–3.5 cm, 4–8 mm thick, base 1–3 cm wide, apex acute to acuminate, subapiculate, surfaces sometimes farinose, not 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 3–6-branched, flat-topped or rounded;
branches not twisted (flowers on topside), simple or 1–2 times bifurcate, (4–10 cm diam.);
cincinni 3–5, 2–15-flowered, circinate, 1–9 cm;
floral shoots 15–40 × 0.3–1.3 cm;
leaves 15–25, spreading to ascending, triangular to ovate, 10–30 × 5–12 mm, apex acute, (erect).
erect, not bent in fruit, 2–6(–12) mm.
erect, not bent in fruit, 1–5 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 4–7 × 4–9 mm;
petals connate 1.5–2.5 mm, pale yellow or whitish especially on margins, 8–12 × 3–5 mm, apex acute, tips sometimes outcurved;
pistils connivent, erect.
follicles erect.
follicles erect.
= 68.
= 68, 102.
Dudleya lanceolata
Dudleya greenei
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.)
Dudleya greenei, which occurs only on Santa Cruz, Santa Catalina, San Miguel, and Santa Rosa islands, is an insular segregate of the D. cespitosa complex and is not clearly separable. It is extremely variable, in part from island to island. Extreme variants of D. greenei differ from any plants seen of D. cespitosa, for example in having more numerous rosette leaves or outcurved petals. Also, certain variants kept in D. cespitosa have characteristics apparently not matched in D. greenei, such as red corollas and comparatively thin leaves that are channeled adaxially.
Based on 12 collections studied by C. H. Uhl, Dudleya greenei is tetraploid and hexaploid. The three collections from San Miguel Island were hexaploid, the three from Santa Cruz Island and one from Catalina Island were tetraploid, and of the five from Santa Rosa Island, two were tetraploid and three hexaploid. Casual inspection suggests that D. greenei might be derived from something like D. candelabrum, now found on Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa islands, and D. farinosa, now found on the coast of California from Monterey County north.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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