''Montia linearis'' 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 names narrowleaf miner's lettuce and narrow-leafed montia. It is native to western North America from

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, ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, where it grows in moist to wet areas in a number of habitat types, including forests and meadows, woodlands, and grassland. The plant is also known from some areas of the southeastern United States, including

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

Description

''Montia linearis'' is a slender, branching annual herb growing erect to about 25 to 30 centimeters in maximum height. The somewhat fleshy linear leaves are alternately arranged and measure up to 10 centimeters in length. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

bears up to 14 flowers with bases of curving oval green

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s. The petals are roughly half a centimeter long and white or pink-tinged in color.

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Montia linearis''''Montia linearis'' - Photo gallery
linearis Flora of California Flora of the Western United States Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Caryophyllales-stub