Dudleya cymosa
Encyclopedia
Dudleya cymosa is a succulent plant
Succulent plant
Succulent plants, also known as succulents or fat plants, are water-retaining plants adapted to arid climates or soil conditions. Succulent plants store water in their leaves, stems, and also in roots...

 known by the common name Canyon live-forever. The plant is found in rocky areas in the low elevations of California and southern Oregon mountains.

Description

It is a distinctive plant sending up erect red-orange stems from a gray-green basal rosette. The small yellowish-red thimble-shaped flowers top the stems in a cyme inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...

. Some subspecies are considered threatened locally.

Subspecies

Selected Dudleya cymosa subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

:
  • D. c. subsp. costafolia - Pierpoint Springs dudleya
  • D. c. subsp. crebrifolia - San Gabriel River dudleya
  • D. c. subsp. marcescens - marcescent
    Marcescence
    Marcescence is the retention of dead plant organs that normally are shed. It is most obvious in deciduous trees that retain leaves through the winter. Several trees normally have marcescent leaves such as oak , beech and hornbeam . Marcescent leaves of pin oak complete development of their...

     dudleya
  • D. c. subsp. ovatifolia - Santa Monica Mountains dudleya


The subspecies marcescens and ovatifolia are federally listed as threatened species of the United States.

Butterfly habitat

Dudleya cymosa is the larval host plant for the Sonoran Blue butterfly, Philotes sonorensis (Lycaenidae
Lycaenidae
The Lycaenidae are the second-largest family of butterflies, with about 6000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies...

)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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