| 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 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.
Annual, perennial herb, ± fleshy, from taproot or fibrous roots, generally glabrous
Stems generally several, generally spreading to ascending
Leaves in basal rosette or basal and cauline, simple, oblanceolate to spoon-shaped
Inflorescence: raceme, panicle, or umbel, scapose, leafy, or bracted; flowers generally on 1 side of axis, deciduous or persistent in fruit; bracts generally < sepals, scarious
Flower: sepals 2, ovate to reniform, generally scarious or scarious-margined, persistent in fruit; petals 2–4, minute, < sepals, tips adherent and cap-like in fruit, falling as 1 unit; stamens 1–3; style 0 or 1, thread-like, stigmas generally 2
Fruit: capsule, generally translucent, 2-valved, generally compressed, oblong to ± round
Seeds 1–many, black, generally shiny
Species in genus: 8 species: w Am
Etymology: (Greek: cap, from petals in fruit)
Reference: [Hinton 1975 Brittonia 27:197–208; Thomas 1956 Leafl W Bot 8:9–11]
Observation of flower, seeds requires 20X magnification.
| Native |
Annual, 1.5–10 cm; taproot slender or fibrous
Stems spreading to ascending, leafy
Leaves basal and cauline, 0.5–4 cm, generally persistent in fruit
Inflorescence: raceme or panicle, open, 1–4 cm, axillary; bracts ovate to elliptic; flower persistent to ± deciduous in fruit; pedicels 1–3 mm
Flower: sepals 2–3 mm, ± round to reniform, white-margined; petals 2, ± 1 mm, white; stamen 1; stigmas sessile
Fruit 2–3 mm, ovate to oblong
Seeds 5–11
Ecology: Gravelly soils, coniferous forest, sagebrush scrub
Elevation: 1500–3750 m.
Bioregional distribution: e slope High Sierra Nevada, n East of Sierra Nevada, White and Inyo Mountains
Distribution outside California: to Idaho, Nevada
Flowering time: Jun–Aug