VIRENS ssp. VIRENS

Synonyms :

Stylophyllum albidum  Rose (1903) / Cotyledon albida  (Rose) Fedde (1904) / Echeveria albida  (Rose) A.Berger (1930) / Dudleya albida  (Rose) P.H.Thomson (1993)

Dudleya chilensis  P.H.Thomson (1993)

Dudleya matsonii  P.H.Thomson (1993)

Distribution : USA (Califomia: San Clemente Island); rock cliffs and slopes, to 400 m, not frequent.

Description (according to J. Thiede in IHSP, 2003) :

Stems erect, short, later decumbent, to > 100 x 1 - 3 cm.

Rosettes ± 5 - 10 cm in diameter, with 20 - 50 leaves, branched and forming cushions to at least 40 cm in diameter.

Leaves triangular-Ianceolate to linear-lanceolate, acute, 5 - 10 (-15) x 1 - 1.5 (basally 1.5 - 3) cm, usually green, at times glaucous.

Inflorescence scape 20 - 45 cm, reddish, 4 - 7 mm in diameter; inflorescence erect, obpyramidal, 6 - 15 cm in diameter, usually with 3 - 4 densely arranged 1x – 3x branched scorpioid branches, these 3 - 5 cm, with 5 – 12 flowers, pedicels 2 - 4 mm.

Flowers : Calyx 3 - 6 x 4 - 5 mm, sepals triangular-ovate, acute, corolla 16 - 20 mm in diameter, petals triangular-ovate or elliptic-oblong, basally erect, divaricate or somewhat recurved from near the middle, acute, 7 - 11 x 2 - 3.5 mm, white or somewhat marked with red (then appearing pink), keel greenish, tube 1.5 - 2.5 mm.

Flowering time : (April to) May to June.

Cytology : n = 17

D. chilensis, almost certainly erroneously described from Chile, appears to belong here (Moran 1995: 7). Moran (l.c.) similarly places D. matsonii here, although that species is mentioned from the San Jacinto Mts. and differs by more strongly ascending petals. D. matsonii perhaps represents a natural hybrid between D. abramsii ssp. abramsii with D. saxosa ssp. aloides, which both occur in the San Jacinto Mts.