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| Dudleya lanceolata |
| Family: Crassulaceae (Stonecrop) |
| Flowers — color: red, size: 1/8" dia., type: closed bell |
Lanceleaf Dudleya has a red bell-shaped flower. Five petals barely open, revealing a yellow interior.
Every summer a flower stalk grows from the plant's base, rising two to four feet. The stem holds many lance-shaped leaves. Flowers form in a panicle, a multi-branched cluster holding flowers on pedicels, short stems.
Habit:
Lanceleaf Dudleya is a succulent perennial. It forms a rosette of leaves up to six inches diameter. They may set offspring around their base, and an old colony could have a dozen members. The narrow are lance-shaped with a sharp tip. They feel fleshy and sometimes seem covered by a dusting of white powder. The leaves are generally evergreen, but some lowerleaves, or all the leaves, may die back in summer. These plants respond poorly to irrigation, as water collecting in the rosette may cause rot.
These plants are hard to find most of the year, for they live under small shrubs or amid clumps of tall grass, perhaps camoflage from the deer. In late spring they produce their long red flower stem, and the census of dudleya may be appreciated. When I bicycle between Burton Mesa Rd. and Rucker on Harris Grade Rd., these flower stems seem plentiful. Distinguished from Chalky Dudleya by narrower leaves and redder blooms.
Sunny but protected.