TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993) |
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©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 318, free or ± fused; stamens 1many, free or inserted on corolla; ovary superior or partly inferior, chamber 1, placenta free-central or basal; styles 28, generally fused at base
Fruit: capsule, circumscissile or 23-valved
Seeds 1many, 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 50:566598]
Family description and key to genera by Dieter H. Wilken & Walter A. Kelley.
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 1many, generally leafless but bracted, sometimes disjointing in age, 1many-flowered
Flower: sepals 28, free, persistent; petals 418, variously colored, overlapping in bud; stamens 5many; styles 28, fused at base, stigmas 28, thread-like
Fruit: capsule, translucent, spheric or ovoid, circumscissile near base
Seeds 2many, dark, generally shiny, smooth or finely tuberculate
Species in genus: ± 20 species: w North America
Etymology: (Captain Meriwether Lewis, 17741809, 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 |
Root + caudex short, thick, ± expanded above; roots radiating, fleshy
Leaves many, in rosette, 0.55 cm, linear, thick, entire, barely tapered at base; tip blunt
Inflorescence: stems severalmany, 26 cm, each 1-flowered, disjointing near middle, leaving ring of 5many scarious, awl-like bracts; flowers exserted from leaves
Flower: sepals 68, ± 3/4 X corolla, petal-like, scarious in age, widely obovate, entire; petals 1019, 1225 mm, obovate-oblong, white or pink, tip obtuse-notched; stamens 4047; stigmas 68
Chromosomes: n=14
Ecology: Rocky, sandy ground, talus, serpentine, clay, granite, shale, open woodlands and sagebrush scrub with pine, oak, or juniper
Elevation: 603000 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: MarJun
Roots once food for native Americans, bitter if taken after flower. Smaller plants of TR, PR, SNE have been called var. minor (Rydb.) Munz.