''Lewisia cotyledon'' is a
species of
flowering plant in the
family Montiaceae known by the common names Siskiyou lewisia and cliff maids. It is
native
Native may refer to:
People
* Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth
* Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory
** Native Americans (disambiguation)
In arts and entert ...
to southern
Oregon and northern
California, where it grows in rocky
subalpine mountain habitat.
Description
It is an
evergreen perennial growing from a thick
taproot and
caudex
A caudex (plural: caudices) of a plant is a stem, but the term is also used to mean a rootstock and particularly a basal stem structure from which new growth arises.pages 456 and 695
In the strict sense of the term, meaning a stem, "caudex" is m ...
unit. It produces a basal rosette of many thick, fleshy oval- or spoon-shaped leaves up to long.
The
specific epithet
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
''cotyledon'' ("small cup") refers to the shape of the leaves.
Flowering from spring to summer,
the
inflorescence arises on one or more stems tall, each stem bearing an array of up to 50 flowers.
Near the flowers are small, pointed
bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...
s tipped with resin glands. The flower has 7 to 13 petals, each about 1.5 centimeters long. The petals may be pale pink with darker veining, whitish with pinkish orange striping, or solid orange to yellow.
Award
This plant
and the Sunset group of
cultivars have gained the
Royal Horticultural Society's
Award of Garden Merit
The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions.
History
The Award of Garden Merit ...
.
It is hardy down to , and prefers a shaded position in
acidic or neutral soil.
[
]
References
External links
Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
cotyledon
Flora of California
Flora of Oregon
Flora of the Cascade Range
Flora of the Klamath Mountains
Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest
Flora without expected TNC conservation status
{{Caryophyllales-stub