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Lewisia columbiana

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lewisia columbiana
var. columbiana
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Montiaceae
Genus: Lewisia
Species:
L. columbiana
Binomial name
Lewisia columbiana

Lewisia columbiana, the Columbian lewisia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae. It is native to the western United States and British Columbia, where it grows in rocky mountain habitats.

Description

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This herbaceous perennial grows from a short, thick taproot and caudex unit. It produces a basal rosette of many thick, fleshy, tapering, blunt-tipped or pointed leaves with smooth edges, each 2 to 10 centimeters long. The inflorescence arises on several stems up to about 30 centimeters tall, each stem bearing an array of up to 100 flowers each. Just under the flower are small, pointed bracts tipped with shiny spherical resin glands. The flower has 4 to 11 petals, each up to about a centimeter in length and oval in shape with a notched tip. The petals are white to pale pink, usually with sharp dark pink veining.

Habitat

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Lewisia columbiana grows on rocks or in gravel or rocky soil, usually in full sun. Though it grows on a variety of rock types, it is tolerant of serpentine rock.

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