Dudleya variegata

Dudleya variegata is a succulent plant known by the common name variegated liveforever or variegated dudleya. It is native to Baja California and adjacent San Diego County in California, where it grows in several habitat types, including chaparral and vernal pools.

Dudleya variegata

Imperiled  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Saxifragales
Family: Crassulaceae
Genus: Dudleya
Species:
D. variegata
Binomial name
Dudleya variegata
(S.Wats.) Moran

Description
The flowers of Dudleya variegata

Dudleya variegata is a fleshy perennial forming a small basal cluster of leaves around a small stem. It grows from a corm. The thick leaves are spoon-shaped to oblong to spherical or globular. There are 4 to 12 leaves, 1 to 7 cm long. The inflorescence is a mostly erect, branching stem up to 20 centimeters tall splitting into 2 to 3 branches nearly as long. Each branch bears several flowers with fleshy triangular sepals and longer yellow petals. The plant is unusual among the majority of Dudleya in that it is summer deciduous, a trait shared only by a few other members. The plant flowers from April through June.[1]

Taxonomy

Phylogeny

Dudleya variegata was previously grouped into the subgenus Hasseanthus, a taxonomic rank characterized by diminutive size, deciduous leaves and underground corms.[2][3]

This would have placed it along with 3 other Hasseanthus taxa native to San Diego County, Dudleya blochmaniae, Dudleya brevifolia, and Dudleya multicaulis.

However, recent phylogenetic analysis has placed D. variegata in the Blochmaniae clade of Dudleya, which includes the majority of Hasseanthus albeit with the exception of D. multicaulis and the inclusion of D. verityi.[4]

Hybrids

Dudleya variegata is known to hybridize with other members of the genus. These include:

Distribution and habitat

The plant is endemic to an area roughly 80 km long, from the southern half of San Diego County down into northwestern Baja California, from Tijuana to Ensenada.[1][5][7] It can be found in the open clearings of chamise, sage scrub or scrub oak brush, preferring gravelly loams. Associates include Ferocactus viridescens, Selaginella cinerascens, and Selaginella bigelovii.[6]

Conservation

Severe reversals in the population of the variegated dudleya have been the result of continued urban expansion in the United States and Mexico. The rush to develop industrial parks and suburbs along the Mexican-American border near Otay Mesa has led to extensive devastation of major populations and colonies of the plant. Federal tax benefits for these industrial parks encouraged widespread grading on the mesa, eliminating populations of the inconspicuous plant.[6] Recreational activity is also detrimental to the species.[8][9]

References
  1. McCabe, Stephen Ward (2012). "Dudleya variegata". Jepson eFlora. Jepson Flora Project. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  2. Britton, N. L.; Rose, J. N. (1903). "Hasseanthus, gen. nov". Bulletin of the New York Botanical Garden. 3(9): 37.
  3. Moran, R. (1953). "Hasseanthus, a Subgenus of Dudleya". Leaflets of Western Botany. 7(4): 110.
  4. Yost, J. M.; Bontrager, M.; McCabe, S. W.; Burton, D.; Simpson, M. G.; Kay, K. M.; Ritter, M. (2013). "Phylogenetic relationships and evolution in Dudleya (Crassulaceae)" (PDF). Systematic Botany. 38(4): 1096–1104.
  5. Rebman, J. P.; Gibson, J.; Rich, K. (2016). "Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Baja California, Mexico" (PDF). San Diego Society of Natural History. 45: 133.
  6. Reiser, Craig H. (July 2001). Rare Plants of San Diego County (PDF). Aquafir Press. pp. 104–105. ASIN B0006F4BAY.
  7. "Dudleya variegata". Flora of North America. 8: 176, 181, 192, 193 – via eFloras.org.
  8. CNPS, Rare Plant Program. 2016. Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants (online edition, v8-02). California Native Plant Society, Sacramento, CA.
  9. Martin, J. 2005. “Variegated Dudleya ( Dudleya Variegata ) on San Diego National Wildlife Refuge.” San Diego, CA.


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