''Lewisia columbiana'', the Columbian lewisia, is a species of flowering plant in the family
Montiaceae
Montiaceae are a family of flowering plants, comprising about 14 genera with about 230 known species, ranging from small herbaceous plants to shrubs. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution.
The family Montiaceae was newly adopted in the APG ...
. It is native to the western United States and
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, where it grows in rocky mountain habitats.
Description
This
herbaceous
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials.
Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous"
The fourth edition of t ...
perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...
grows from a short, thick
taproot
A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproo ...
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
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...
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
''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.
Gallery
Image:Lewisia columbiana JHT1 IMG 3801C.jpg, ''Lewisia columbiana'' on serpentine
Image:Lewisia columbiana iNat-127674300.jpg, Flower closeup
Image:Lewisia columbiana iNat-127703253.jpg, Flower bract with glands
External links
Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
columbiana
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