''Lewisia sacajaweana'' 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 ...
known by the common name Sacajawea's bitterroot. It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...
, where it is known from approximately two dozen sites, with about 75 percent of them in
Boise National Forest
Boise National Forest is a National Forest covering of the U.S. state of Idaho. Created on July 1, 1908, from part of Sawtooth National Forest, it is managed by the U.S. Forest Service as five units: the Cascade, Emmett, Idaho City, Low ...
. It is usually found at elevations ranging from to above sea level and produces white flowers shortly after snowmelt.
The species is named in honor of
Sacagawea
Sacagawea ( or ; also spelled Sakakawea or Sacajawea; May – December 20, 1812 or April 9, 1884)[Sacagawea]
...
,
Native American guide to the
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...
. It is part of a genus named for
Meriwether Lewis of the same expedition.
References
sacajaweana
Flora of Idaho
Endemic flora of the United States
{{Caryophyllales-stub