TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993)	previous taxon | next taxon Jepson Interchange (more information)
	©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California

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. disepala Rydb.

YOSEMITE LEWISIA

Caudex short, roots much-branched, some fibrous
Leaves many, in rosette, 0.5–1.5 cm, linear or club-shaped, fleshy, entire, tapered to base; tip blunt
Inflorescence: stems few, < 1 cm, 1-flowered, disjointing near middle, leaving ring of 2–4 scarious, ovate bracts; flowers exserted from leaves
Flower: sepals 2, 0.7 X corolla, petal-like, scarious in age, ± round, entire; petals 5–8, 1–1.5 cm, obovate, pink, tip round; stamens 15; stigmas 2
Ecology: Granitic sand
Elevation: 1900–3500 m.
Bioregional distribution: c&s High Sierra Nevada
Synonyms: L. rediviva var. yosemitana K. Brandegee; L. yosemitana Jeps. misapplied