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Bluff Lettuce
Dudleya farinosa
  
39 Nurseries Carry This Plant

About Bluff Lettuce (Dudleya farinosa) 39 Nurseries Carry This Plant Dudleya farinosa is a succulent plant known by several common names, including bluff lettuce, powdery liveforever, and powdery dudleya. This dudleya is variable in appearance from drab to spectacular. It grows from a branching caudex and forms a basal rosette of wide, pointed, spade-shaped leaves, each up to about six centimeters across. The leaves are generally very pale green but they often have edges or tips of bright colors, particularly bright reds. The plant erects a tall stem which is pale green with pink or red tinting, atop which it bears a branching flower cluster with many pale to bright yellow flowers. This plant is native to the coastline of Oregon and northern California, where it is commonly found on bluffs and coastal hillsides. One specialized habitat in which D. farinosa is found is the Monterey Cypress forests at Point Lobos and Del Monte Forest in Monterey County, California.

This is a beautiful plant with striking red foliage in the dry season. Easy to grow in coastal environments, just make sure it's place in very well draining soils in either full sun or part shade. It's often grown in pots and is a great choice for rock walls. Dudleya farinosa is an important hummingbird plant along the coast in its natural range.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Perennial herb, Succulent

Size
Size
3.6 - 8.4 in tall
8 - 12 in wide

Form
Form
Mounding

Growth Rate
Growth Rate
Moderate

Dormancy
Dormancy
Summer Semi-Deciduous

Flower Color
Flower Color
Red, Yellow, Pink, Green

Flowering Season
Flowering Season
Summer

Wildlife Supported
 
Attracts hummingbirds and other pollinators

 
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 3 likely * ) SHOW ALL
*
Philotes sonorensis Image
Sonoran Blue Philotes sonorensisPhilotes sonorensis
*
Callophrys mossii Image
Moss' Elfin Callophrys mossiiCallophrys mossii
*
Argyrotaenia franciscana Image
Orange Tortrix Moth Argyrotaenia franciscanaArgyrotaenia franciscana

Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Shade, Part Shade

Moisture
Moisture
Extremely Low, Very Low

Summer Irrigation
Summer Irrigation
Max 1x / month once established

Nurseries
Nurseries
Carried by 39

Cold Tolerance
Cold Tolerance
Tolerates cold to 25 - 30° F

Soil Drainage
Soil Drainage
Fast

Soil Description
Soil Description
Rocky cliffs, very well draining rocky slopes. Soil PH: 6 - 7

Common uses
Common uses
Bird Gardens, Hummingbird Gardens

Companion Plants
Companion Plants
Yellow Stonecrop (Sedum spathulifolium), Coast Dudleya (Dudleya caespitosa), Red Maids (Calandrinia ciliata), dwarf or low growing Chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum), Giant Coreopsis (Leptosyne gigantea), low growing Coyote Bush (Baccharis pilularis), Coast Eriogonum (Eriogonum latifolium), Seaside Fleabane (Erigeron glaucus), Coastal Sagewort (Artemisia pycnocephala)

Propagation
Propagation?
For propagating by seed: No treatment.

Sunset Zones
Sunset Zones?
5, 7, 14*, 15*, 16*, 17*, 19*, 20*, 21*, 22*, 23*, 24*

Natural Setting
Site Type
Site Type
Sea cliffs and bluffs

Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 13.6" - 78.9", Summer Precipitation: 0.20" - 2.24", Coldest Month: 41.8" - 51.1", Hottest Month: 55.7" - 72.1", Humidity: 0.08" - 21.36", Elevation: -253" - 1517"

Alternative Names
Common Names: North Coast Dudleya, Powdery Dudleya, Powdery Liveforever, Sea Lettuce


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Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


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