Dudleya nesiotica also known by its common name Santa Cruz Island Live-Forever is commonly found on Santa Cruz Island, one of the Channel Islands off of California. It’s a plant with thick leaves and white petal flowers. During the winter this plant is active and is dormant during the summer, leaving only its caudex (eol.com). This plant is asexual and can reproduce on its own. The Dudleya nesiotica is considered a threatened species.
This plant can be found growing on flat to gently sloping terrain (eol.com). It can grow in Coastal Bluff Scrub, rocky and clay areas (eol.com). Some of its neighbors include Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, M. nodiflorum and Native alkalai heath. It also has a commensalism relationship with mosses and lichens, they are beneficial to the germination of Dudleya nesiotica’s seeds by adding nutrients and moisture. The mosses and lichens also create protection from snails and slugs.
The Dudleya nesiotica is ranked G1 on the Rounded Global Status Rank, which means this plant is critically imperiled and some of the threats include being eaten and soil loss. The introduction of nonnative mammals to the Channel Islands in the 1800s has contributed to its loss of soil quality.
The Dudleya nesiotica has no known benefits to humans but still plays a major part to the ecosystem it’s a part of it. If it were to go extinct it can affect the number of predators that eat it and other plants around it. It’s important to take care of the environment and prevent living things especially plants from reaching a status like G1.
References:
“Santa Cruz Island Liveforever – Dudleya nesiotica – Details – Encyclopedia of Life.” Encyclopedia of Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2016. <http://eol.org/pages/487879/details>.
Image: http://plants.usda.gov/gallery/pubs/dune_004_php.jpg
Channel Islands National Park 
Are you sure that this plant is asexual? Many people confuse hermaphroditic plants as asexual. It could be that it is dioecious and has both male and female sexual organs. It would be helpful to describe exactly what a caudex is so people can visualize how the plant presents when dormant. What species of non-native mammals were introduced and how have they affected other species? It would also help readers to know what herbivores eat this flower, what the pollinators are, and how often the flower blooms.
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