Dudleya anomala is a rare species of succulent plant in the family Crassulaceae commonly known as the Todos Santos liveforever. With a dense, cushion-forming habit, this leaf succulent is characterized by elongated stems, slightly sticky leaves, and bell-shaped flowers with white, spreading petals. This species is native to Baja California, Mexico, and is found primarily on islands and one coastal locality.
Description
Morphology
Dudleya anomala is a rosette-forming leaf succulent that grows in a caespitose habit, with the stems branching to form dense cushions of rosettes in diameter. The
Caudex are elongated and procumbent, and may reach up to long, and are usually thick. Topping the stems are the rosettes, which contain 20 to 30 close-set leaves, that may become somewhat separated when the stem is rapidly elongating. The leaves are shaped strap-oblanceolate to strap-shaped, with acute tips. The lower surface of the leaf is convex, while the upper surface is only slightly convex. The leaf margins are obtuse or rounded, but not toward the base. The leaves measure long by wide, with the leaf bases broad. The leaves are slightly viscid.
The peduncle is by thick, and is covered in ascending Bract. The bracts are shaped narrowly deltoid-ovate to deltoid-lanceolate, with sharply acute tips. The lower bracts measure long by wide. The inflorescence is compact, with an overall rounded shape, and measures about in diameter. The inflorescence usually has three major branches which may or may not subsequently rebranch once, and the terminal branches contain 3 to 5 flowers, held on pedicels long.
On the flower, the Sepal are deltoid to deltoid-ovate with acute tips, measuring long. The Petal are somewhat spreading from the base, with the tips curving outward. Petals are narrowly ovate with acute tips, measuring long by wide, connate for or less. The petals are white, but somewhat flecked on the keel with red. The Stamen measure about long, and are adnate with the petals for . The anthers are orange, and . The Gynoecium are and connate for about , spreading in age, with the styles long.
Characteristics
D. anomala possesses slightly
Adhesion (sticky) and odorous foliage, a trait only shared by the aptly-named
Dudleya viscida.
In comparison,
anomala has smaller leaves, thinner caudices, and smaller, simpler inflorescences.
[ Dudleya anomala (Davidson) Moran. Desert Plant Life. 14: 191. 1942.]
Taxonomy
Taxonomic history
Anstruther Davidson first described the species as
Stylophyllum anomalum in 1928, based on a specimen collected by Robert Kessler from North Coronado Island and deposited in the herbarium of the Los Angeles County Museum by Davidson. Harald Fröderström described
Stylophyllum insulare based on a specimen collected by Marcus E. Jones from the Coronado Islands in 1926. This name later became a homonym, so it was changed to
Stylophyllum coronatum. Philip A. Munz also observed this species on the Coronado Islands, referring to it as
Dudleya virens.
Reid Moran wrote a more complete description of the species in 1943, and recognized it as a Dudleya, creating the current combination.
Phylogenetics
A 2013 phylogenetic analysis of
D. anomala places it in a clade with
Dudleya anthonyi.[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). Systematic Botany, 38(4), 1096-1104.]
Distribution and habitat
Dudleya anomala is only found in the state of
Baja California,
Mexico and has an insular distribution on the
Coronado Islands, Isla Todos Santos, and one location on the mainland, the extreme point of the Punta Banda. The range of
D. anomala overlaps with those of
Dudleya lanceolata,
Dudleya candida, and
Dudleya attenuata.
[Oberbauer, T. A. (2002, March). Vegetation and flora of Islas Los Coronados, Baja California, México. In Proceedings of the Fifth California Islands Symposium (Vol. 29, pp. 212-223).][Mulroy, T. W., Rundel, P. W., & Bowler, P. A. (1979). The vascular flora of Punta Banda, Baja California Norte, Mexico. Madroño, 69-90.][Uhl, C. H., & Moran, R. (1953). The cytotaxonomy of Dudleya and Hasseanthus. American Journal of Botany, 492-502.]
Specimens of D. anomala observed by Reid Moran occurred on steep, north-facing cliffs on the Coronado Islands.
Gallery
File:Dudleya anomala growing on my roof 2.jpg|Cultivated plant with nascent inflorescences.
File:Dudleya anomala 1.jpg|At the University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley, California
File:Dudleya anomala 3.jpg|At the Huntington Library.
File:Dudleya anomala flower 1.jpg|Detail of a flower and bud.
File:Dudleya anomala flower 2.jpg|Multiple flowers and buds.
External links
