Dudleya multicaulis
Dudleya multicaulis is a succulent plant known by the common name manystem liveforever or many-stemmed dudleya. This "Dudleya" is endemic to southern California, where it is rare and becoming increasingly uncommon as its habitat is altered. This plant grows few short, fingerlike cylindrical leaves with pointed tips. It is dominated by its erect peduncle, which is topped with a branching inflorescence bearing up to 15 flowers on each long, thin branch. The flowers have pointed yellow petals and long stamens. Description. Morphology. In this species, the caudex has been reduced to a subterranean structure roughly equivalent to  a corm. The corm has an oblong shape, and measures long by wide. The leaves are arranged in 1 to 4 rosettes which are wide. The 5 to 15 green leaves are summer deciduous, with their surfaces not or somewhat glaucous. The leaves are shaped cylindric and linear except at the base, with the bases flushing with purple-red when the leaves are detached or damaged at that point. The leaves measure long by wide, with the base wide, and the tip of the leaf sharply acute. The inflorescence is on a peduncle high and wide. There are 7 to  18 strongly ascending bracts, with a similar linear shape to the rosette leaves. The inflorescence may first branch 2 or more times, and then subsequently rebranch 0 to 1 more times. The terminal branches (cincinni) are long, and have 3 to 15 flowers, which are suspended on pedicels long. The flowers are odorless. The petals are connate for , and spread from the near middle, colored a bright yellow to a fading pale-yellow, and often lined-red at the keel. The petals are shaped elliptic-lanceolate and measure long by wide. The apex of the petals is acute. The sepals  measure long and are shaped deltate-acute. The corolla measures in diameter. The pistils are connate for and are ascending. The ovaries are long, while the styles are . Distribution. Most of its known occurrences are in Orange County, where it lives mostly along the coastal plain in heavy clay soils. It is threatened by development, road construction, and recreational activity.