This dainty Dudleya is probably not what most people picture when they think of the genus. Subsection Hasseanthus includes enough distinct species that it was once treated as its own genus, containing several true geophytes that shed their leaves for the summer and retreat to underground tubers. It’s a bit surprising this group isn’t better known among enthusiasts of South African bulbs, given how much they share in common, and the fact that they represent some of the few native Californian succulents. Dudleya variegata is locally endemic to a narrow range from San Diego south into the Tijuana area, a region that likely supported far more plants than were ever formally documented before development. More attention has recently been paid to its more charismatic relative, Dudleya brevifolia, but we find D. variegata compelling in its own right, resembling a combination of the half-buried, mesemb-like habit of D. brevifolia and the more familiar dwarf, leaf-succulent species such as D. gnoma.
