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Chalk Dudleya
Dudleya pulverulenta
  
About Chalk Dudleya (Dudleya pulverulenta) 42 Nurseries Carry This Plant Chalk dudleya (Dudleya pulverulenta) is a beautiful succulent plant. It grows a rosette of wide, flat fleshy pale green leaves about a foot wide. In the winter and spring, it produces tall erect pinkish-white stems about a foot tall, which bear flower clusters that are pale green or white. These often open into thousands of pointy, rosy-red flowers. The leaves and stems are covered with a dense coating of chalky, powdery wax.

Chalk dudleya is easy to grow when situated properly. It is useful and very dramatic in containers or well-drained rock gardens. It should be planted into rocky slopes or rock walls at a 45- to 90-degree angle. If the plant is planted pointing straight up, it tends to fill with water and die. It can take full sun exposure or part shade. For best results, give this plant full sun on a slope facing north, east or west. Give partial shade on a south-facing slope. Surround the plant with rocks if they aren't already present. It prefers to be drought-stressed in summer and goes partially dormant, often with only a tiny greenish white area in the middle of the rosette appearing alive, and the outer leaves turning shades of white, tan, pink and purple. If you want this plant to look less drought-stressed, water it in summer, but only once per month at most.

This plant is susceptible to aphid infestations, which result in flower and rosette deformities. It openly hybridizes with several other species. Hummingbirds are very attracted to the flowers.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Perennial herb, Succulent

Size
Size
0.33 - 1 ft tall
1 ft wide

Form
Form
Spreading

Growth Rate
Growth Rate
Moderate

Dormancy
Dormancy
Summer Deciduous

Fragrance
Fragrance
None, Slight

Flower Color
Flower Color
Orange, Pink, Red

Flowering Season
Flowering Season
Spring, Summer

Wildlife Supported
 
Hummingbirds

 
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 3 likely * ) SHOW ALL

Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Part Shade, Full Sun

Moisture
Moisture
Very Low

Summer Irrigation
Summer Irrigation
Max 1x / month once established

Nurseries
Nurseries

Ease of Care
Ease of Care
Very Easy

Cold Tolerance
Cold Tolerance
Tolerates cold to 20° F

Soil Drainage
Soil Drainage
Fast, Medium

Soil Description
Soil Description
Tolerant of a variety of garden soils as long as rocks are added and some slope is provided. Soil PH: 5.0 - 8.0

Common uses
Common uses
Deer Resistant, Bird Gardens, Hummingbird Gardens, Butterfly Gardens

Companion Plants
Companion Plants
Chamise, California Encelia, California Buckwheat, Pink Honeysuckle, Wild Hyacinth, Oaks, native grasses, Yucca spp., various cactus species

Maintenance
Maintenance
Pruning should be limited to removing spent stalks.

Propagation
Propagation?
Propagation by seed is difficult, as the seed is very fine and dust-like. For propagating by seed: No treatment.

Sunset Zones
Sunset Zones?
14, 15, 16, 17*, 18, 19*, 20*, 21*, 22*, 23*, 24*

Natural Setting
Site Type
Site Type
Steep rocky slopes and rocky walls in chaparral or coastal sage scrub

Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 4.6" - 32.7", Summer Precipitation: 0.14" - 2.84", Coldest Month: 39.3" - 57.7", Hottest Month: 66.0" - 85.0", Humidity: 0.47" - 35.99", Elevation: 3" - 6112"

Alternative Names
Botanical Names: Dudleya pulverulenta ssp. pulverulenta
Common Names: Chalk Lettuce, Chalk Liveforever


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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