ROSETTES: solitary, subsessile, 0.5-2(-6) dm wide, of 10-40 leaves, on stems 1-4 cm thick. LEAVES: glaucous to chalky, sometimes red in age, oblong to oblong-obovate, broadly acute to mostly long-acuminate, 3-17(-30) cm long, 1-5(-10) cm wide, 2-4(-9) mm thick, the base 1-3.5(-6) cm wide. FLORAL STEMS: 1.5-6 dm tall, 2-6 mm thick, red, the 5-20 leaves spreading, cordate-ovate, acute to acuminate, the lowest 1-3.5 cm long, 0.5-2.5 cm wide. CYMES: of 3-6 usually ascending branches 4-27 cm long and 4-20-flowered; pedicels mostly erect or ascending, 0.5-1.5 cm long, often bending sharply upward in fruit. FLOWERS: sepals 3-6 mm long; corolla apricot-yellow to mostly deep red, 9-15 mm long, the tube 4-8 mm long. 2n = 34. NOTES: Dry rocky slopes and cliffs of desert mts.; Maricopa, Mohave, Pima, Pinal, Yuma cos.; 150-800 m (500-2700 ft); mostly Apr-Jun; s NV, sw UT, se CA; Baja C. Norte, nw Son., Mex. REFERENCES: Moran, Reid. 1994. Bixaceae. J. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. Volume 27, 190-194.
FNA 2009, Jepson 2012, Kearney and Peebles 1969
Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Succulent General: Succulent perennials, caudex to 50 cm tall, stems simple, axillary branches absent, herbage whitish and glabrous throughout, covered with a dense, mealy powder or chalky wax, the fleshy stems, leaves, and leafy inflorescences arising from a thick basal rosette. Leaves: Alternate, basal forming large, solitary and dense basal rosettes, the rosettes 30-80-leaved, 25-60 cm in diameter, blades chalky white, oblong to oblong-oblanceolate, widest at base or in the uppermost (distal) one-third, 8-30 cm long, 3-13 cm wide and 3-10 mm thick, bases 3-8 cm wide, apices acuminate or tipped with a short, sharp, abrupt point (cuspidate), surfaces puberulent and chalky, sessile or short-petiolate, basal blades withering in early summer. Flowers: Red, pendent, inconspicuous and covered by thick, bract-like leaves, petals 5, 11-19 mm long and 2-4.5 mm wide, connate or fused at base for 6-10 mm and erect to spreading above, apices acute to obtuse with erect tips, sepals waxy, calyx 5-9 mm long and 5-8 mm wide, pistils converging and erect, stamens 10, carpels 5, inflorescences in dense, 2-5 branched cymes, obpyramidal to cylindric in outline, branches twisted at base with the flowers on the underside, simple or divided into 2 forks, these with 2-5 tightly coiled (circinate) or scorpoid-like (cincinni), becoming straight and spreading to erect with age, 10-30-flowered, 10-50 cm long, floral shoots to 1.5 m long and 0.5-2 cm wide, pedicels pendent or declined, in age sharply bending near middle to bring fruits erect, 10-35 mm long. Fruits: Whorls of follicles, each follicle dehiscent along an adaxial suture, unripe follicles erect. Seeds 1-20 or more, brown, narrowly ovoid, longitudinally and finely cross-ribbed. Ecology: Found on rocky cliffs, dry hillsides, and the coastal side of mountains, in canyons, from 0-5,000 ft (0-1524 m); flowering early summer. Distribution: California; Mexico. Ethnobotany: Specific uses for the subspecies are unknown, but the species has uses; fleshy leaves used to remove corns and calluses, decoction of roots taken for asthma, and leaves chewed, with or without salt, by children. Etymology: Dudleya is named for William Russel Dudley (1849-1911), first professor of botany and head of the Botany Department at Stanford University, pulverulenta means powdery, dust-covered, and arizonica means of or from Arizona. Synonyms: Dudleya arizonica, Dudleya lagunensis, Echevaria arizonica, Echevaria lagunensis Editor: LCrumbacher2012