''Lewisia longipetala'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the family
Montiaceae known by the common names long-petalled lewisia and Truckee lewisia. It is
endemic to the
Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...
of
California, where it is known from less than 20 locations in areas not far from
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevad ...
. It grows in
subalpine and
alpine climates in moist areas in rocky habitat, such as
talus that retains patches of
snow year-round. Most specimens grow on north-facing slopes with little surrounding vegetation.
[Halford, A. S. and R. S. Nowak. (1996)]
Distribution and ecological characteristics of ''Lewisia longipetala'' (Piper) Clay, a high-altitude endemic plant
''Great Basin Naturalist'' 56:3 225-36. The plant thrives in the snow, growing largest and most densely in areas of high snowpack and becoming easily water-stressed when far away from areas with snow.
[
This is a perennial herb growing from a slender 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 thin but fleshy leaves 3 to 6 centimeters long. The inflorescence is made up of several flowers on short stalks. Each flower has around 8 petals each between 1 and 2 centimeters long, pinkish in color, and tipped with a resin gland similar to those on the edges of the 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 and two small sepals.
A number of hybrids of this species are popular garden plants in amenable climates, including several crosses with '' Lewisia cotyledon''.[Nicholls, G. (2002)]
Alpine Plants of North America
Timber Press. pg 172.
References
External links
Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
longipetala
Endemic flora of California
Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
~
{{Caryophyllales-stub