| TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993) |
previous taxon |
next taxon
Jepson Interchange (more information) |
|
|
©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
For up-to-date information about California vascular plants, visit the Jepson eFlora. |
AND IS MAINTAINED FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES ONLY |
Annual or perennial herb, generally fleshy
Stems generally glabrous
Leaves simple, alternate or opposite, sometimes stipuled
Inflorescence various
Flower bisexual, radial; sepals generally 2(–8), free or fused at base; petals 3–18, free or ± fused; stamens 1–many, free or inserted on corolla; ovary superior or partly inferior, chamber 1, placenta free-central or basal; styles 2–8, generally fused at base
Fruit: capsule, circumscissile or 2–3-valved
Seeds 1–many, generally black, generally shiny
Genera in family: ± 20 genera, ± 400 species: generally temp Am, Australia, s Africa; some cultivated (Lewisia, Portulaca, Calandrinia )
Reference: [Bogle 1969 J Arnold Arbor 50:566–598]
Family description and key to genera by Dieter H. Wilken & Walter A. Kelley.
Annual, perennial herb, ± fleshy, from taproot or fibrous roots, generally glabrous
Stems generally several, generally spreading to ascending
Leaves in basal rosette or basal and cauline, simple, oblanceolate to spoon-shaped
Inflorescence: raceme, panicle, or umbel, scapose, leafy, or bracted; flowers generally on 1 side of axis, deciduous or persistent in fruit; bracts generally < sepals, scarious
Flower: sepals 2, ovate to reniform, generally scarious or scarious-margined, persistent in fruit; petals 2–4, minute, < sepals, tips adherent and cap-like in fruit, falling as 1 unit; stamens 1–3; style 0 or 1, thread-like, stigmas generally 2
Fruit: capsule, generally translucent, 2-valved, generally compressed, oblong to ± round
Seeds 1–many, black, generally shiny
Species in genus: 8 species: w Am
Etymology: (Greek: cap, from petals in fruit)
Reference: [Hinton 1975 Brittonia 27:197–208; Thomas 1956 Leafl W Bot 8:9–11]
Observation of flower, seeds requires 20X magnification.
| Native |
Perennial, < 50 cm; caudex short, thick; taproot slender to thick
Stems generally spreading to ascending, scapose to leafy
Leaves: basal rosette 1; basal leaves 1.5–6 cm; cauline leaves 0.8–3 cm
Inflorescence: umbel, generally compound, ± open, simple and dense in small plants, axillary, 2+ per rosette, 1–10 cm diam; bracts ovate to deltate; flowers subsessile to short-pedicelled, persistent in fruit
Flower: sepals 3–8 mm, ± round, clearly scarious; petals 4, 3–7 mm, rose to white; stamens 3, pink to rose; style ± 1 mm, thread-like
Fruit 2–3.5 mm, widely elliptic to ± round
Seeds 1–3
Ecology: Open, sandy or gravelly soils, coniferous forest
Elevation: 600–3200 m.
Bioregional distribution: Klamath Ranges, High North Coast Ranges, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Transverse Ranges, East of Sierra Nevada
Distribution outside California: s Oregon, Nevada, Baja California
Hybridizes and intergrades with C. umbellatum in SN .