|Jepson Flora Project: Jepson Interchange|
|TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993)||
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Jepson Interchange (more information)
©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
AND IS MAINTAINED FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES ONLY
Annual or perennial herb, generally fleshy
Stems generally glabrous
Leaves simple, alternate or opposite, sometimes stipuled
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.
Roots fibrous from small, deep, spheric corm
Leaves 25, cauline, 16 cm, linear or thread-like, entire, tapered to base; tip obtuse
Inflorescence: stems 1several, generally 27 cm aboveground, each with a loose, generally 110-flowered cluster; flowers included in or exserted from leaves; bracts among flowers, ± lanceolate, entire
Flower: sepals 2, ± 1/2 X corolla, ovate, entire; petals 59, 47 mm, oblong-oblanceolate, white or pink, tips rounded; stamens 35; stigmas 35
Ecology: Moist sandy or gravelly slopes, grassy meadows, open conifer forest
Elevation: 13003400 m.
Bioregional distribution: Klamath Ranges, High North Coast Ranges, High Cascade Range, High Sierra Nevada, Warner Mountains.Generally distinct from closely related L. pygmaea ; some intermediates may be found.