Reidmorania occidentalis is a succulent plant in the Crassulaceae (Crassulaceae) native to the state of Sinaloa in Mexico. It is within the Monotypic taxon genus Reidmorania, which is named after botanist Reid Moran, who was notable for his research in the Crassulaceae family.
Description
Morphology
The plant grows in a
caespitose habit, with short stems and rosettes around 4.5 cm wide. The leaves are
oblanceolate and obtuse, mucronate, glabrous, and bluish green to green. The
inflorescence is paniculate, with floral stems 11 to 36 cm long, bearing 3 to 10
Flower. The
Sepal are ascending, adpressed, ovate, and are colored olive-green, with the corolla tubular-campanulate, 6 to 7 mm long, 4 mm wide at the base, and 7 mm wide at the mouth. The
Petal are ascending, imbricate, and oblanceolate, keeled, and with three to five faint reddish longitudinal veins, the central darkest, and merging with the cuspidate reddish apex.
Taxonomy
Taxonomic history
The plant was discovered to science in
Sinaloa by a collector J. G. Ortega in 1920. This plant was originally placed as
Graptopetalum occidentale, described by Joseph Nelson Rose and Eric Walther in 1933 from the single collection.
was also described later in 1998 by Jorge Meyrán and Rito Vega, named after botanist
Myron Kimnach. It was placed in the series Paniculatae, compared with
Echeveria amoena and
Echeveria microcalyx.
Kimnach himself realized the species was synonymous with
Graptopetalum occidentale, but noticed that the species did not fit into
Graptopetalum, and thus was moved into the new genus
Reidmorania, named after Kimnach's late colleague Reid Moran.
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Distribution and habitat
This plant is found in the Culiacán Municipality of Sinaloa state, on the northwestern coast of México, to the southeast of Baja California. It is also found in a limited area near La Sierra de Tacuichamona. In habitat, it occurs in tropical to sub-tropical and sub-deciduous forest, commonly associated with species of Agave, Brosimum, Bursera, Echeveria and Hechtia.[
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