[3] It is an edaphic endemic that only grows on Lindavista formation marine terraces, on surfaces with ironstone nodules.

After flowering, any above ground trace of the plant will disappear, and it survives under the earth with a starch-rich subterranean caudex.

Dudleya brevifolia is only found on coastal mesas along a small strip of coast in San Diego County, California.

There are 5 to 15 basal leaves, more or less spheric to spoon-shaped distally, which are usually buried in the soil except for the top surface of each leaf blade.

Willis L. Jepson, in line with the common scientific view at the time, regarded the plant as a new species of Sedum.

A 1950 treatment of the plant by Reid Moran would then place it under the subspecies brevifolia of H. blochmaniae, noting some significant morphological differences.

The plants flowered three to four weeks earlier than the other populations of D. brevifolia, and had a different growth habit, being primarily found in depressions on the mesa.

[9] Moran noted how it was difficult to distinguish brevifolia from blochmaniae until the advent of land development in the area extirpated the populations that transitioned between the two.

[4][5] The plant was also known to grade into Dudleya variegata abundantly at a vernal pool-like depression north of Eastgate Mall road and west of the I-805 near Miramar and the Sorrento Valley.

[11][13] The plant is endemic to coastal sage scrub habitats in southern California, found only in an extremely limited range within southwestern San Diego County.

[2] It is found at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve in the La Jolla neighborhood of the City of San Diego, and several sites in Del Mar, both coastal communities within the county.

[8][14] It is only found on bare surface hardpans of Torrey sandstone with minimal topsoil, from 30–250 metres (98–820 ft) in elevation.

In areas with the most shallow soil that is still conducive to growth, this plant tends to have incredibly irregular stems.

If the plants are disturbed by any winter droughts, they will return to dormancy and wait until the next suitable growing season.

This means that population estimates made from flowering plants may significantly undercount the number of individuals.

The vast majority of Dudleya species have difficulty in rooting from detached leaves, a trait that distinguished them from Echeveria in early taxonomic studies.

[17] The topography of coastal San Diego County is often challenging for urban development, with steep canyons shearing through flat mesas.

[21] Most recently, in 2008, UCLA faculty Dr. Hartmut S. Walter and Matthew Luskin estimated the Carmel Mountain population at over 100,000 individuals.

[8][22] Dudleya brevifolia is a high conservation priority because it exists only in these 5 locations (listed by decreasing average yearly population): Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, Carmel Mountain (on multiple sites), Crest Canyon, Skeletal Canyon, and Torrey Pines Extension.

The total habitat outside of Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve that contains this species was estimated at just 2,667 square meters.