Dudleya time

[iann]

This row is D. lanceolata, obviously settled in after being repotted in the spring.

lanceolata-1017.jpg (56.89 KiB) Viewed 2964 times

[Saxicola]

Nice to see! My Dudleyas are waking up too. I'm particularly fond of that genus because I've got around 10 species native within a half hour or less drive of where I live. A lot of succulent enthusiasts in California overlook these guys while going nuts for Echeverias. Their loss!

[iann]

I think this is one of the ones found close to you. For some reason that escapes me it appears to be very cold hardy, certainly enough for my winters.

[C And D]

The Dudleya lanceolata are one of the most common Dudleyas near where I live.
But they go into deep dormancy in the summer, so are more difficult than other species to grow.

Duldeya pulverulenta are the second most common, and are easier to grow, yet too much water in the summer may rot their roots.
Both of these species are mealy bug attractants, I usually need to spray them twice a year.

Dudleya edulis also grows nearby, I was able to grow a whole batch of seedlings in our seed garden a couple years ago, I just grabbed the old stalks off the plants and shook them over the garden, and about seedlings 50 came up.

The easiest to grow is Dudleya saxosa, it naturally comes from the Joshua Tree area, Mohave and Arizona
It seems to be able the handle water at the wrong season and will grow when it wants, fall and spring. It stays more compact.

[keith]

Dudleya lanceolata and Dudleya saxosa, how do you tell them apart ?

I don't know how many different kinds grow in Ventura county but of all of them I can only tell the big one Duldeya pulverulenta from all the small ones that look like Dudleya lanceolata.

[C And D]

D. saxosa are smaller and less fleshy

D. saxosa only lives in the desert, D. lanceolata only lives within 20 miles of the Ocean

We also have Dudleya viscida, stolonifera, and multicaulis in Orange County (where I live), all within 20 miles.

I grow them all, and hoping to grow D. stolonifera from seed next year.

D. multicaulis is the most difficult, since it goes completely dormant in the summer down to a nub that will rot if watered. It's best to have seeds to restart it every other year.

[Saxicola]

Keith,

I am in Thousand Oaks. We are in one of the most diverse spots for Dudleyas but you have to know where to look and what you are looking for to see anything besides Dudleya pulverulenta (the big white one) and D. lanceolata (the smaller white or green one). For example, the entire worldwide range of Dudleya verityi is Conejo Mountain between Thousand Oaks and Camarillo. Basically 4 square miles, most of which got torched in the fire last year. The Santa Monica Mountains from Calabasas west to Point Mugu have a two or three endemic species (species only native to that area). There is even one only native to Agoura Hills and Westlake Village and another only found in Wildwood Park in TO and the immediate area around it! Plus there are several other ones that aren't restricted only to these small areas but aren't as common as the two you usually see. By the way, a lot of species look very similar unless you know the differences or see them in flower. Anyway, lets hope for a normal to wet winter this year because that is what they need to look their best!

[C And D]

There is an article in Science News (SN) Magazine Oct. 18, 2014 about the destruction and efforts to save Dudleya verityi in the Conejo Mountains
Steve McCabe and others are trying to bring the plants back, after maybe all of them were killed during the fire.
They have cultivated plants that will be planted back in the same spots that they were documented, planted in a special lichen that they got from the Channel Islands (the same lichen used to live there before the fire)

[Saxicola]

I'll have to check it out. Thanks for alerting me to it. I saw the plants a couple times before the fire and they were all over a big rock outcropping along a road in a canyon. I went back right after the fire and was horrified at how charred the landscape was. It looked so different that it took me a few minutes to make certain I was in the correct spot. Then I went back this June and that was the most disheartening thing of all. I spent around 45 minutes crawling around that spot and literally saw one live head left (not one clump, one live head in a clump of dead stalks). All the other plants were definitely dead. I think having one of the driest winters on record come immediately after that fire has made the situation much worse than it would have been with a normal winter. If that area is representative of other populations of the species then we are looking at roughly a 1% survival rate.

[Kamos]

I took this picture a few years ago at Pinnacles national monument. Dudleya growing on the moss of a huge boulder.
I'm not sure which species...maybe lanceolata? I thought you Dudleya fans might appreciate this pic. Sorry I
cut off the flowers in pic.

Dudleya,(Pinnacles).JPG (113.12 KiB) Viewed 2801 times

[iann]

Seeing the flowers helps to ID. D. lanceolata has nice orange flowers. The leaf shape is right though. Must be about as far north as it grows though?

[Saxicola]

Seeing the flowers helps to ID. D. lanceolata has nice orange flowers. The leaf shape is right though. Must be about as far north as it grows though?

Yes, Monterey County (which Pinnacles is in) is pretty much the northern end of the range. I'd call the plant in your picture D. lanceolata, but flowers would have confirmed it.

[Kamos]

By the way, great looking plants you have there ian !

[keith]

Hi Saxicola,

I live in Moorpark which doesn't seem to have as many Dudleyas as TO or Westlake . I would probably walk right by any small rare Dudleyas and not notice any difference

They just look like dead grass in Summer around here.

[promethean_spark]

I love dudleyas too. This time of year I crush up the dried seed pods from last year over flats of empty pots in the GH and I'll get a crop of new seedlings by spring. Seedlings don't handle the frost I get as well as the adults, but after a few years they can usually take it.

To get them through hot summers, I stick them someplace in full shade so they can get by on the water they've stored. The ones that live right by the water never really see very high temperatures or low humidity, so they need a hand to get through. They do see fog though, and don't seem to mind light watering in the summer.