Dudleya densiflora

Dudleya densiflora
Conservation status
	; Critically Imperiled (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Saxifragales
Family:	Crassulaceae
Genus:	Dudleya
Species:	D. densiflora
Binomial name
	Dudleya densiflora; (Rose) Moran
Synonyms
	Stylophyllum nudicaule

Dudleya densiflora is a succulent plant known by the common name San Gabriel Mountains liveforever. This is a very rare plant which is endemic to the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, California. It is known from only three to five spots in the mountain range and there are an estimated 1,700 individual plants remaining.

This plant grows in the cracks of the granite slopes of three canyons in this single mountain range, where it is threatened by human activity such as rock quarrying and off-trails hiking. Local studies are underway to gain information about this species.

Description

Dudleya densiflora is a unique plant, different in appearance from most other dudleyas with its long, snakelike leaves. Each leaf is up to 15 centimeters long and cylindric up to its pointed tip, and it is covered with a soft, grainy powder. (Dudleya edulis also has cylindrical pointed leaves, often longer, but lacks the grainy powder). From this clump of leaves emerges an erect stem with a branched inflorescence, each branch bearing 2 to 8 light colored flowers, usually very light pink to white.

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