Dudleya densiflora

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Ordo: Saxifragales

Familia: Crassulaceae
Subfamilia: Sempervivoideae
Tribus: Sedeae
Genus: Dudleya
Subgenus: D. subg. Stylophyllum
Species: Dudleya densiflora
Name

Dudleya densiflora (Rose) Moran
References

Desert Plant Life. Pasadena, CA 15:123. 1943
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Dudleya densiflora in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 07-Oct-06.

Dudleya densiflora is a species of succulent plant in the family Crassulaceae known commonly as the San Gabriel Mountains liveforever or San Gabriel Mountains dudleya.[3] A very rare plant confined to the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, California, it is known only from three to five spots in the mountain range, with an estimated 1,700 individual plants remaining. Growing in the cracks of the granite slopes of three canyons in this single mountain range, it is threatened by human activity such as rock quarrying and off-trail recreation.[1]

Description

A clumping plant with long, pencil-shaped and powdery leaves, with a branching, rounded inflorescence that holds spreading, white to pink flowers. It is similar in appearance to Dudleya edulis and Dudleya viscida, but differs in having white powdery leaves and a rounded, not flat-topped, inflorescence.[4][5]
Morphology

This plant grows in a caespitose or clumping habit, with multiple rosettes of leaves forming on top of branching caudices. The caudex is 1–2.5 cm (0.39–0.98 in) wide. The clumps of rosettes may reach up to 30 cm (12 in) in diameter, and have a foliage consisting of 20 to 40 leaves. The evergreen foliage is covered in a white, waxy powder, known as an epicuticular wax, with the leaf blades green underneath the substance. The base of the leaf may turn a yellow when the leaf is wounded. Each leaf is 6–15 cm (2.4–5.9 in) long by 6–12 mm (0.24–0.47 in) wide, more or less cylindric, with a linear shape. The tip of the leaf is shaped acute.[4][5]

The peduncle is 10–30 cm (3.9–11.8 in) tall, and 2–6 mm (0.079–0.236 in) wide. The floral shoots are covered in 5 to 15 bracts, which are erect and shaped lanceolate. The inflorescence branches 3 to several times, with each branch sometimes dividing into one or two more terminal branches. The terminal branches are 2–4 cm (0.79–1.57 in) long and bear 2 to 8 flowers, suspended on pedicels 2–5 mm (0.079–0.197 in) long. The flowers are spreading from the middle, the sepals shaped deltate to ovate. The petals are 5–10 mm (0.20–0.39 in) long, with a narrowly ovate shape, and are colored a white or pink. The entire corolla is around 12–20 mm (0.47–0.79 in) in diameter.[4][5]

See also

Dudleya multicaulis
Dudleya cymosa subsp. crebrifolia
Dudleya viscida

References

"Dudleya densiflora". NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. 2022. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
"Dudleya densiflora". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
"Dudleya densiflora". Calflora. Berkeley, California: The Calflora Database. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). "Dudleya densiflora". Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). New York and Oxford – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
McCabe, Stephen Ward (2012). "Dudleya densiflora". Jepson eFlora. Jepson Flora Project. Retrieved February 26, 2022.