''Dudleya cultrata'' is a species of

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

in the family Crassulaceae commonly known as the knife-leaved liveforever or the maritime succulent liveforever. This species is characterized by oblong, narrow green leaves and flowers with pale yellow petals that bloom from April to June. Although similar to '' Dudleya ingens'', this species is most often seen growing sympatric with the larger, wax-covered '' Dudleya anthonyi''. It is native to

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, occurring on the coast from Punta Colonet and San Quintin to El Rosario.

Description

Like most other

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

''Dudleya'', this species grows as a leaf succulent with a basal rosette of leaves on top of a

caudex A caudex (plural: caudices) of a plant is a stem, but the term is also used to mean a rootstock and particularly a basal stem structure from which new growth arises.pages 456 and 695 In the strict sense of the term, meaning a stem, "caudex" is m ...

. This species branches dichotomously, giving multiple rosettes in orders of 2. This species has noticeably less leaves than the coastal form of '' Dudleya ingens'', having only up to 25 leaves, and is similar in appearance to the inland form of ''Dudleya ingens''. The leaves are green, and lack any

glaucousness ''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), g ...

wax Waxes are a diverse class of organic compounds that are lipophilic, malleable solids near ambient temperatures. They include higher alkanes and lipids, typically with melting points above about 40 °C (104 °F), melting to give low ...

. The flowering stalks may be up to tall, and are colored reddish or greenish. The flowers have pale-yellow to yellow petals that appear from April to June. Like other members of the subgenus ''Dudleya'', the petals are connate, forming a tube.

Morphology

The caudex ranges from in thickness, and elongate to long, branching to form clusters of up to 10 rosettes. The rosettes themselves are in diameter, with about 20–30 leaves. The leaves are shaped oblong, with the sides parallel or tapering from the base. The leaves measure in length, in width, and are thick, flat on the upper surface but convex on the lower surface. The margins are acute in the lower fourth of the leaf, but rounded above, the apex sub-terete. The base of the leaf is wide, and high. The floral stems are tall, and thick, with about 5–20 cauline leaves. The floral stem is bare of these leaves in the lower . The cauline leaves are positioned horizontal to ascending, shaped triangular and acute, the lowermost being about long and wide. The

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. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

consists of about 3 ascending branches, which may in turn rebranch once. The terminal branches (cincinni) are long, with 6–20 flowers held on

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''. Description Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...

. The pedicels are erect, the lowermost ones long. The calyx is wide, high, and rounded to tapering below. The calyx segments are shaped triangular, acute, long, and wide. The petals are pale yellow, shaped elliptic, acute, long, and about wide, connate . The

anthers The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

are orange. The

carpels Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

are erect.

Taxonomy

This species bears a close resemblance to the inland form of '' Dudleya ingens'', differing in its coastal habit and more yellowish flowers. It is a tetraploid relative to the basic chromosome number of the genus, with a gametic chromosome count of ''n''=34.

Distribution and habitat

''Dudleya cultrata'' is typically found abundantly on the coast around San Quintin Bay in Baja California, and also on San Martin Island. Its northern range is near

Colonet Punta Colonet (Chuwílo Ksaay (''dry arroyo'') in the Kiliwa language) is a town located in Ensenada Municipality, Baja California, Mexico. Located south of the city of Ensenada, the community is located in an agriculturally productive region o ...

, and it can be found south in the El Rosario coast as well. On San Martin, ''D. cultrata'' hybridizes with '' D. anthonyi''.

Gallery

File:Dudleya cultrata 185228489.jpg, Detail of one of the terminal branches on the inflorescence. File:Dudleya cultrata 185228506.jpg, Plant with inflorescences File:Dudleya cultrata 184383537.jpg, In habitat

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15482662 cultrata Flora of Baja California Taxa named by Joseph Nelson Rose Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Plants described in 1903 Endemic flora of Mexico