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

	The second edition of The Jepson Manual (2012) is available from the University of California Press
	See also the Jepson eFlora, which parallels the Second Edition

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. rediviva Pursh

BITTER ROOT

Root + caudex short, thick, ± expanded above; roots radiating, fleshy
Leaves many, in rosette, 0.5–5 cm, linear, thick, entire, barely tapered at base; tip blunt
Inflorescence: stems several–many, 2–6 cm, each 1-flowered, disjointing near middle, leaving ring of 5–many scarious, awl-like bracts; flowers exserted from leaves
Flower: sepals 6–8, ± 3/4 X corolla, petal-like, scarious in age, widely obovate, entire; petals 10–19, 12–25 mm, obovate-oblong, white or pink, tip obtuse-notched; stamens 40–47; stigmas 6–8
Chromosomes: n=14
Ecology: Rocky, sandy ground, talus, serpentine, clay, granite, shale, open woodlands and sagebrush scrub with pine, oak, or juniper
Elevation: 60–3000 m.
Bioregional distribution: Klamath Ranges, High North Coast Ranges, Inner North Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada, San Francisco Bay Area, Inner South Coast Ranges, Transverse Ranges, San Jacinto Mountains, Modoc Plateau, East of Sierra Nevada, Desert Mountains (Panamint Mtns)
Distribution outside California: to Rocky Mtns
Flowering time: Mar–Jun
Roots once food for native Americans, bitter if taken after flower. Smaller plants of TR, PR, SNE have been called var. minor (Rydb.) Munz.