"[6] The plant was described in its current form by Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose in their revision of North American Crassulaceae, which created the genus Dudleya.

Because the delimitation of the plant is based on arbitrary characteristics, the exact biogeographical distribution is difficult to pin down.

The 2012 Jepson Treatment places the northern limit on the southern North Coast of the California Floristic Province.

Plants identified with Dudleya caespitosa are found in the north from Point Reyes south to Malibu.

[3][5] On the central coast of California near Santa Maria, numerous oil refineries exist, pumping phytotoxic sulfur dioxide.

While plants like Salvia mellifera (black sage) were affected, Dudleya caespitosa proved to be somewhat tolerant of the emissions.

This is likely due to the fact that Dudleya caespitosa uses CAM photosynthesis, which means their stomata open in the evening hours.