Dudleya edulis
Dudleya edulis is a species of perennial succulent plant known by the common names fingertips, lady fingers, mission lettuce and the San Diego dudleya. The common name denotes the finger-like shape of the leaves, while the specific epithet "edulis" refers to the use of the young scapes as food by the Kumeyaay. It is native to Southern California and northern Baja California, and grows on rocky hillsides, cliffs, and bare rock. Description. "Dudleya edulis" is made up of an array of fleshy, finger-like leaves growing vertically from a caudex at or just below ground level. The  fingerlike leaves are pale green, cylindrical and pointed, growing up to tall. It bears a branching inflorescence tall, with several terminal branches each bearing up to 10 or 11 flowers. The flowers have pointed white to cream petals about a centimeter long. The bloom period is May to July. The plant is diploid, with a chromosome number of n=17, which is the base number for "Dudleya". Taxonomy. Taxonomic history. Thomas Nutall discovered the species while on his expedition to California in the 1830s. He found it on the edges of "rocks and ravines, St. Diego" and named it Sedum edule , with the specific epithet owing to the use of the plant as an edible food source by the indigenous peoples. Despite placing it in the genus "Sedum", he noted that it was ""a remarkable species apparently allied to Ech­everia teretifolia."" It is unknown why Nutall chose to place the plant in "Sedum", as he had described the other "Dudleya" of the region as "Echeveria." It is speculated that he likely placed it as "Sedum" because of the spreading petals on the flowers. During their revision of North American Crassulaceae, Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose placed the plant in  the genus "Stylophyllum", which was differentiated from their new genus "Dudleya" on the basis of round leaves and spreading petals. With Reid Moran's revision of "Dudleya", the plants within "Stylophyllum" were moved, as "Stylophyllum" was now a subgenera of "Dudleya". Willis L. Jepson once regarded the nearby "Dudleya attenuata" as a subspecies of this plant, owing to their similar morphology, although they are very distinct. They can be distinguished by the fact that "D. attenuata" is a smaller plant, with slender and elongated stems, and fewer smaller leaves that are glaucous and clavate to some degree. The leaf bases  are also higher, and the inflorescence is simpler with more remote flowers. It is known to naturally hybridize with "Dudleya stolonifera, D. attenuata", "D. brevifolia", "D. formosa" and "D. blochmaniae" where their ranges overlap. Most of these hybrids are uncommon, and the plants hybridizing with "stolonifera" may be backcrosses. Distribution and habitat. The plant is endemic to chaparral habitats, and is native to southwestern Southern California and slightly into northwestern Baja California. It is found north from coastal Orange County and southern Riverside County, south throughout San Diego County into the Rio San Vicente drainage of Baja California, a habitat  that spans over 190 miles (305 km), from the Pacific coast east towards the southwest flank of Cuyamaca Peak, around 40 miles inland and up to elevations of 1,300 meters. In its southern distribution, the plant can be found more on north-facing slopes and cliffs. It grows in rocky slopes and soil, and on rock outcrops and ledges, from sea level to below in elevation. It is found in coastal sage scrub and chaparral and woodlands habitats. Cultivation. "Dudleya edulis" is cultivated as an ornamental plant, planted in native plant and wildlife gardens, drought tolerant rock gardens, and as  specimens in pots. Thomas Nutall noted the use of the plant as a food source by the indigenous occupants of the land, which gives the plant its specific epithet. The native peoples would harvest the young tender leaves in spring, and eat them raw. The Tiipai members of the Kumeyaay had a specific name for the narrow-leaved "Dudleya" like this plant, calling them "milh kajmila".