stonecrop ~ 02/20/12 ~ Pinnacles

Pacific stonecrop / broadleaf stonecrop
Sedum spathulifolium
Crassulaceae

This is my best guess considering others I've seen online look very different. There are so many variations of this native stonecrop that I'm not even sure if they're all the same species. It's a popular garden plant, which I think accounts for much of the variation. I have Matti and Megan of Far Out Flora to thank for Id'ing my first sedum.

lanceleaf liveforever ~ 06/10/11 ~ Pinnacles

lanceleaf liveforever
Dudleya lanceolata
Crassulaceae

So often this Dudleya is growing on rocks in hard to reach places. I was so intent on getting a better picture that I clambered up to the rock without thinking. When I was done and looked around, I realized what a precarious position I had gotten myself into with a steep drop off and surrounded by poison oak. Looking down from great heights makes me feel dizzy and unsure of my footing. It's an odd sensation, especially because I never had a problem with the balance beam in gymnastics, nor do I think twice about looking down from a building or an airplane. I probably won't take up rock climbing anytime soon.

broadleaf stonecrop
Sedum spathulifolium
Crassulaceae

Without these in bloom, I have little chance of identifying this plant. I'm assuming they're a species of Dudleya, but I could be incorrect. I've checked a handful of plant lists for Garland Ranch and only one even mentions succulents. As you can tell from my pictures, this is a very moist area... but only in the winter and spring. Several years ago when I returned to CA, these were the very first wild (i.e., not garden) succulents I had ever seen in this area, and if my memory is correct, I believe the blooms were yellow. Can anyone ID?

ps 03/02/11 - Boy, did I have this wrong! At the very least, I knew this was a stonecrop thingahoo. I originally posted this as an unknown dudleya. Nope. No wonder I couldn't find a match after searching through hundreds of pictures of dudleya. Many thanks to Megan and Matti at Far Out Flora, I got an ID. I also double-checked the CNPS Garland Ranch plant list from 2006 and this is the only Sedum on their list. I've corrected the ID above.

dudleya ~ 02/20/11 ~ Garland Ranch

lanceleaf liveforever
Dudleya lanceolata
Crassulaceae

First ferns, now succulents? I am trying to branch out and look at plants outside of my comfort zone. This is typically a more southernly plant and Monterey County is about as far north that it grows naturally. Does anyone have a good dudleya ID site to recommend?