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.
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. Jepson eFlora Author: John M. Miller & Kenton L. Chambers Reference: Miller & Chambers 2006 Syst Bot Monogr 78:1--236 Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Listed on CNPS Rare Plant Inventory Previous taxon: Claytonia lanceolata Next taxon: Claytonia nevadensis
Botanical illustration including Claytonia megarhiza
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 December 14, 2019.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2019, Jepson eFlora, http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on December 14, 2019.
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Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
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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.
