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Claytonia megarhiza
FELL-FIELDS CLAYTONIA

Higher Taxonomy
Family: MontiaceaeView DescriptionDichotomous Key

Common Name: MINER'S LETTUCE FAMILY
Habit: Annual to perennial herb; generally fleshy. Stem: 1--many, generally glabrous. Leaf: simple, alternate or opposite. Inflorescence: axillary or terminal; cyme, raceme, panicle, umbel, or flower 1. Flower: bisexual, radial; sepals generally 2(9), free; petals (1)2--19, free or +- fused; stamens 1--many, epipetalous or not, anthers pink, rose, or yellow; ovary superior, chamber 1, ovules 1--many, placenta basal or free-central; styles (0)1--8, generally fused at base, branched. Fruit: capsule, circumscissile or 2--3-valved. Seed: 1--many, shiny or +- pebbly or sculptured, black or gray, generally with oil-filled appendage as food for ants.
Genera In Family: +- 22 genera, +- 230 species: generally temperate America, Asia, Australia, Europe, Kerguelen Is, New Zealand, southern Africa, poorly represented in Europe; some cultivated (Lewisia, Calandrinia). Note: All CA genera previously included in Portulacaceae; details of flowers, seeds require 20× magnification.
Unabridged Note: May include Hectorellaceae.
eFlora Treatment Author: John M. Miller, except as noted
Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.
Genus: ClaytoniaView DescriptionDichotomous Key

Habit: Annual, perennial herb, from stolon, rhizome, tuberous root, or taproot, glabrous, +- fleshy. Leaf: entire; basal generally 0--many, rosetted; cauline generally 2, +- opposite, free, +- fused on 1 side, or fused into +- disk. Inflorescence: terminal, raceme, 1-sided; pedicel reflexed, in fruit erect. Flower: petals 5, pink or white; stamens 5; ovary chamber 1, placentas basal, style 1, stigmas 3. Fruit: valves 3, margins inrolling, forcibly expelling seeds. Seed: 3--6, generally black, generally appendaged.
Species In Genus: 27 species: Central America, North America, eastern Asia, Siberia. Etymology: (John Clayton, colonial American botanist, 1694--1773)
eFlora Treatment Author: John M. Miller & Kenton L. Chambers
Reference: Miller & Chambers 2006 Syst Bot Monogr 78:1--236
Unabridged Reference: Miller 2003 FNANM 4:465--474; Miller & Chambers 1993 Novon 3:268--273; Miller & Chambers 2006 Systematics of Claytonia Syst Bot Monogr 78:1--236

Claytonia megarhiza (A. Gray) S. Watson
NATIVE
Habit: Perennial herb; caudex long, 5--30 mm diam, vertical, +- brown, scaly with withered leaf bases; rhizomes, stolons 0. Stem: 1--6 cm, spreading. Leaf: basal 2--10 cm, crowded, blade 1--3 cm, widely elliptic to obovate, base tapered, tip obtuse; cauline 1--3 cm, free, +- linear, acute. Inflorescence: +- sessile, dense, bracted throughout; flowers 2--6. Flower: sepals 4--6 mm; petals 5--9 mm, white or +- pink. Fruit: 3.5--4.5 mm. Seed: 2--2.5 mm, round, shiny. Chromosomes: 2n=12,16,24,32,34,36.
Ecology: Subalpine, alpine gravel, talus, crevices; Elevation: 2600--3300 m. Bioregional Distribution: n&c SNH, Wrn; Distribution Outside California: to western Canada, Montana, Colorado, New Mexico. Flowering Time: May--Aug
Synonyms: Claytonia bellidifolia Rydb.; Claytonia megarhiza var. bellidifolia (Rydb.) C.L. Hitchc.;
eFlora Treatment Author: John M. Miller & Kenton L. Chambers
Reference: Miller & Chambers 2006 Syst Bot Monogr 78:1--236
Unabridged Reference: Miller 2003 FNANM 4:465--474; Miller & Chambers 1993 Novon 3:268--273; Miller & Chambers 2006 Systematics of Claytonia Syst Bot Monogr 78:1--236
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Listed on CNPS Rare Plant Inventory

Previous taxon: Claytonia lanceolata
Next taxon: Claytonia nevadensis

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botanical illustration including Claytonia megarhiza

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Citation for this treatment: John M. Miller & Kenton L. Chambers 2012, Claytonia megarhiza, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=19625, accessed on April 23, 2018.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2018, Jepson eFlora, http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 23, 2018.

Claytonia megarhiza
click for enlargement
© 2015 Barry Breckling
Claytonia megarhiza
click for enlargement
© 2015 Barry Breckling
Claytonia megarhiza
click for enlargement
© 2015 Barry Breckling
Claytonia megarhiza
click for enlargement
© 2015 Barry Breckling
Claytonia megarhiza
click for enlargement
© 2015 Barry Breckling
Claytonia megarhiza
click for enlargement
© 1999 California Academy of Sciences

More photos of Claytonia megarhiza in CalPhotos

Geographic subdivisions for Claytonia megarhiza:
n&c SNH, Wrn;		 Markers link to CCH specimen records. Yellow markers indicate records that may provide evidence for eFlora range revision or may have georeferencing or identification issues. Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
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map of distribution 1
(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurence).

View elevation by latitude chart		 Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria.
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CCH collections by month

Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time.