Graptopetalum rusbyi (San Francisco River Leather-Petal)

Graptopetalum rusbyi (San Francisco River Leather-Petal)

Family
CRASSULACEAE
Synonyms
ECHEVERIA RUSBYI; COTYLEDON RUSBYI; DUDLEYA RUSBYI; ECHEVERIA RUSBYI; GRAPTOPETALUM ORPETII
Common Name
San Francisco River Leather-Petal
Agency Status
USFWS State of NM USFS BLM Navajo Nation State Rank Global Rank R-E-D Code NMRPTC Status Strategy Status
S1 G4 D
Distribution
This species occurs primarily in the Gila River drainage of southeastern Arizona in the Upper Sonoran and upper Lower Sonoran in protected niches where plants receive extra moisture and some shade. In Arizona it is known from scattered sights in Gila, Graham, Greenlee, Maricopa, Pima, and Pinal counties, and it is recorded in northern Sonora. Apparently only one sight is known in New Mexico (the San Francisco Box). I can find no record of the species in Chihuahua, and doubt if it is there; similar looking species of Sedum and Villadia are common there.
Remarks
Graptopetalum rusbyi is not a common plant anywhere, but probably is not rare. I've personally only seen one wild plant, between Superior and Globe, Arizona. This individual is now dead, and I have seen no others in the area (though I'm sure they're there).
Important Literature

Kearney, T.H. and R.H. Peebles. 1951. Arizona Flora. University of California Press, Berkeley.

Wooton, E.0. and P.C. Standley. 1915. Flora of New Mexico. Contributions from the U.S. National Herbarium 19:1-793.

Weber, W.A. 1987. Colorado flora: Western Slope. Colorado Associated University Press, Boulder. \ \

Shreve, F. and I.L. Wiggins. 1964. Vegetation and flora of the Sonoran Desert. Two volumes. Stanford University Press.

Welsh, S.L., D. Atwood, S. Goodrich and L. C. Higgins. 1987. Great basin naturalist memoirs: A Utah flora.

Hickman, J.C. (Editor). 1993. The Jepson Manual, Higher Plants of California, University of California Press

Webb, D.A. and R.J.Gornall. 1989. Saxifrages, Timber Press, Portland, Oregon, USA.

Webb, D.A. & R.J.Gornall. 1989. Saxifrages of Europe, Chiristopher Helm Publishers Ltd., Imperial House, Bromley, Kent, Great Britain.

Weber, W.A. 1990. Colorado Flora, Eastern Slope, University of Colorado Press.

For distribution maps and more information, visit Natural Heritage New Mexico