''Lewisia pygmaea'' 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 AP ...

known by the common name alpine lewisia and pygmy bitterroot. It is native to western North America from

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...

and

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

and

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

, where it grows in many types of moist, rocky mountain habitat, such as gravel beds and sandy meadows.

Description

''Lewisia pygmaea'' is a highly variable species with a wide distribution, and it often hybridizes with other ''

Lewisia ''Lewisia'' is a plant genus, named for the American explorer Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) who encountered the species in 1806. The native habitat of ''Lewisia'' species is north facing cliffs in western North America. Local Native Americans ate ...

'' species, making identification difficult. In general, this is a petite perennial herb growing from a

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 A caudex (plural: caudices) of a plant is a Plant stem, 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, " ...

unit, and producing a basal rosette of several leaves 2 to 8 centimeters long. The leaves are narrow but thick and fleshy, blunt-tipped, and linear to lance-shaped. 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 ...

is usually made up of a few very short stems each bearing one or more flowers which appear to be sitting on or within the basal leaf rosette. Each flower has 5 to 9 white, pink or red petals which may or may not have dark veining or striping. The petals are 4 millimeters to 1 centimeter long.

Habitat and Range

''Lewisia pygmaea'' grows in open areas with short turf and in gravelly or rocky soils. It can be found naturally growing in Alta., B.C., Yukon; Ariz., Calif., Colo., Idaho, Mont., Nev., N.Mex., Oreg., Utah, Wash., Wyo.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
pygmaea Flora of the Northwestern United States Flora of Alaska Flora of British Columbia Flora of California Flora of New Mexico Flora of the Cascade Range Flora of the Great Basin Flora of the Klamath Mountains Flora of the Rocky Mountains Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the Transverse Ranges Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Caryophyllales-stub