It is a rosette-forming species widely distributed throughout the Peninsular Ranges and desert mountains of California in the United States.

It is characterized by bright-yellow or greenish-yellow flowers, and can be found in shaded crevices and slopes.

[2] This plant's basal rosette is formed on top of a caudex (stem), which is 1 to 3 cm in diameter.

The peduncle then branches 3 times, with the floral shoots colored red or green.

Flowering is from April to June[3][4] This species was described as Dudleya aloides in 1903, based on a specimen collected from San Diego County by Townshend Brandegee and examined by Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose during their revision of North American Crassulaceae species.

A third taxon, the comparatively diminutive Dudleya delicata, was also described by Britton and Rose, collected by LeRoy Abrams near Julian.

He recognized them as distinct based on diagnostic criteria that included sulphur-yellow flowers, (as opposed to bright yellow or greenish-yellow) a smaller inflorescence, and restricted montane habitat compared to subsp.

[4] The treatment by botanist Stephen W. McCabe in the Jepson Manual regards Dudleya alainae as "in need of study.

Plants in western portion of the distribution in the Peninsular Ranges approach Dudleya lanceolata, and hybrids are expected.