Succulents, a hot topic in gardening circles, have brought new attention to California’s dramatic native succulents, the dudleyas. Dudleya, aka liveforevers, are succulents that are widespread throughout coastal California, Baja California and the offshore islands. Many species are naturally rare and others have become endangered through coastal development or by having rabbits released into their island habitats.

Stephen McCabe, Emeritus Director of Research at the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum, has been working on Dudleya for 33 years, naming two new species, the Munchkin Dudleya and Hendrix’s liveforever. Publicity for the recently named Hendrix’s liveforever went viral internationally. He will be naming other new, rare species in the next couple of years. His talk will also describe how to grow the native succulents in the home garden.