Graptopetalum ("writing petal") is in the Stonecrop Family (Crassulaceae).  With its rosette of thick, succulent leaves,
it is similar to close relatives Sedum, Echeveria and Dudleya, but the flower petals are yellow with red spots and stripes.
The two U.S. species are almost entirely restricted to Arizona and are protected as Salvage Restricted by state law.
G. bartramii is restricted to southeastern AZ and G. rusbyi is found in southeastern and central AZ.  G. bartramii is a BLM and USFS Sensitive Species.  Both plants are rare and have similar habitat requirements.  Although several scattered localities are known for both species, only a handful of viable populations of mature, reproducing plants are known.  Natural reproductive rates appear to be low, and young sterile rosettes are vulnerable to the natural dangers of drought, flooding, and fire, as well as man-made hazards. They grow in upland desert, chaparral, and Madrean evergreen woodland. G. bartramii tolerates higher elevations than G. rusbyi but there are a few places where their ranges overlap and both species can be found.  The plants grow in moist, shady, organic-rich pockets of soil on the downhill side of a rock or a sheltering plant, often on north-facing slopes with Selaginella (spikemoss) and/or well-developed cryptobiotic soil crust.  If the plants lose their protective shelter or soil, they dry out and die.
THREATS:  Trampling by humans or cattle.  Off-road driving.  Collection.

G. bartramii growing at 4200 feet on a granite outcrop with Lechugilla (Agave schottii).

FLOWER BUDS:  In a panicle (open clusters on branches scattered along the stalk).  Photo taken in late August.	LEAVES:  Broadest near the tip, light bluish-green.

FLOWERS bloom in fall or early winter.  Photos above were taken October 16, 2007.  Open flowers are about 1 cm across.

SEEDPODS persist until the next flowering season.

LEAVES:   Broadest at the center.  Mature leaf rosettes have fewer leaves than G. bartramii. Leaves of G. rusbyi are dark green; leaves of G. bartramii are pale green or light bluish-green. Rosettes of G. rusbyi grow in tight, crowded clusters; rosettes of G. bartramii are solitary or grow in loose small groups.		SEEDPODS are fewer than G. bartramii.

FLOWERS bloom in spring.  In a cyme (open cluster at the top of the stalk) or less commonly in a short raceme (single stalked flowers scattered along the stalk).

SEDUM is a large genus of succulents and many species are cultivated.  Two species are found on damp shady outcrops in Madrean evergreen woodland, often growing with Graptopetalum bartramii.

Leaves are tiny but thick and succulent.  This cluster is the same diameter as a single large Graptopetalum rosette.

Anchored in deep cracks, plants form small mounds on bare limestone.	Dead plants look like tiny gnarled trees.

Tiny white flowers bloom in late summer.  Seedstalks shown above.	The evergreen leaves are light bluish green.	Leaf rosettes have tiny silky white hairs.