It is endemic to California, where it is a rare resident of limestone outcroppings and rocky slopes in the southern Sierra Nevada and nearby mountains and foothills.

The flowers are very pale yellow to reddish-yellow and have sharply pointed petals one to one and a half centimeters long.

[2][3]The plant was originally set to be described by Katharine Brandegee, upon collected specimens made by C. A. Purpus, but she failed to do so.

[4] The plant was formerly placed as a separate species, but recent taxonomic sources now regard it as a subspecies of Dudleya abramsii.

calcicola occurs predominantly on pre-Cretaceous limestones within chaparral or pinyon-juniper woodland at an elevation of 500 to 2600 meters.

[4] The plant is not generally considered a good candidate for garden culture because of its requirement for limestone-based soils.