PORTULACACEAE

PURSLANE FAMILY

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.

LEWISIA

Lauramay T. Dempster

Perennial, generally from short, thick, ± branched taproot, topped by short, sometimes very thick caudex at or below ground level, sometimes from spheric corm
Stem: aerial parts restricted to inflorescence
Leaves generally in basal rosette, simple, entire or not; base wide; margin generally ± translucent
Inflorescence ± scapose; stems 1–many, generally leafless but bracted, sometimes disjointing in age, 1–many-flowered
Flower: sepals 2–8, free, persistent; petals 4–18, variously colored, overlapping in bud; stamens 5–many; styles 2–8, fused at base, stigmas 2–8, thread-like
Fruit: capsule, translucent, spheric or ovoid, circumscissile near base
Seeds 2–many, dark, generally shiny, smooth or finely tuberculate
Species in genus: ± 20 species: w North America
Etymology: (Captain Meriwether Lewis, 1774–1809, of Lewis & Clark Expedition)
Reference: [Elliott 1966 Bull Alpine Gard Soc 34]
Horticultural information: DRN, IRR: pots and rock gardens only; DRY when dormant; DFCLT.

Native

L. cantelovii J.T. Howell

CANTELOW'S LEWISIA

Root + caudex short, stout, tapered abruptly to narrow root
Leaves many, in spreading rosette, < 8 cm, spoon-shaped, finely to coarsely dentate, tapered to broad petiole; tip round, truncate, or notched
Inflorescence: stems 1–several, 7–45 cm, each with a broad, lax, generally many-flowered panicle; flowers well exserted from leaves; bracts among flowers and few below, minute, lance-ovate, gland-toothed; pedicels ± = flowers, ± thread-like
Flower: sepals 2, ± 1/2 X corolla, ± round, margin gland-toothed; petals 5–6, 4.5–9 mm, obovate, pale pink with deeper veins, tip round; stamens 5–6; stigmas 3
Chromosomes: n=14
Ecology: Granite cliff faces, rocky outcrops
Elevation: 400–1300 m.
Bioregional distribution: Klamath Ranges, High Cascade Range, n High Sierra Nevada
Synonyms: L. cantelowii J.T. Howell
Plants with smaller inflorescence, deeper leaf serrations have been called L. serrata Heckard & Stebbins (Saw-toothed lewisia;RARE).