Dudleya caespitosa is a small coastal succulent native to southern California, forming dense rosettes of pale, powdery leaves. It is a highly variable species complex, so plants sold under this name may differ, and it needs excellent drainage and plenty of sun.
Family
Crassulaceae (Stonecrop family)
Grows as
Succulent
Light
Full sun
Water
Water deeply but infrequently, letting the soil dry out fully between waterings; keep water off the rosette.
Soil
Fast-draining sandy or gritty mix with added pumice or grit.
Temperature
10–30 °C; tolerates light frost but protect below about -5 °C.
How easy
Easy
Native range
SW. California (incl. Channel Is.)
Climate
desert or dry shrubland
About
Dudleya caespitosa is a succulent plant known by several common names, including sea lettuce, sand lettuce, and coast dudleya. It is endemic to California, where it grows along the coastline in the southern half of the state. Taxonomically, this species is a highly variable complex of polymorphic and polyploid plants, closely related to numerous neighboring species such as Dudleya farinosa, Dudleya greenei and Dudleya palmeri. It is delimited from neighboring species on an arbitrary basis of distribution and chromosome number, and may not be immediately separable from the other species it approaches.
Where it grows
This plant is common and is found along the coast of California. Because the delimitation of the plant is based on arbitrary characteristics, the exact biogeographical distribution is difficult to pin down. The 2012 Jepson Treatment places the northern limit on the southern North Coast of the California Floristic Province. Plants identified with Dudleya caespitosa are found in the north from Point Reyes south to Malibu.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Dudleya caespitosa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.