Rare plant named after legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

8 years ago

This newly discovered rare plant is named after famed rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix. (Stephen McCabe/San Diego State University via AP)

This May 1969 photo made by Stephen McCabe at the age of 15 shows musician Jimi Hendrix performing at the Santa Clara County, Calif., Folk Rock Festival. (Stephen McCabe via AP)

Musician Jimi Hendrix performs on the Isle of Wight in England in 1970. (AP Photo/File)

SAN DIEGO — California researchers have named a newly discovered rare plant after Jimi Hendrix.

The plant, found in Baja California, Mexico, has been christened Dudleya hendrixii , or “Hendrix’s liveforever.”

Liveforevers are a kind of succulent with enormous lifespans.

This one is a stalky plant less than a foot tall with pinkish-white flowers that dies in summer and re-sprouts in fall.

San Diego State University says a former graduate student, Mark Dodero, discovered the plant — supposedly while listening to Hendrix’s song “Voodoo Child.”

The university says Dodero and Stephen McCabe of the University of California, Santa Cruz, decided to name it for the late rock guitarist.

However, unlike Hendrix’s music, the plant is in peril. San Diego State says its two-acre habitat is threatened by farming, off-road vehicles and development.