Claytonia nevadensis

Last updated

Claytonia nevadensis
Claytonia nevadensis.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Montiaceae
Genus: Claytonia
Species:
C. nevadensis
Binomial name
Claytonia nevadensis

Claytonia nevadensis, known by the common names Sierra springbeauty and Sierra Nevada claytonia, is a species of wildflower in the family Montiaceae. The evolutionary relationship of Claytonia nevadensis to other claytonias is a subject of debate and ongoing genetic studies. Sierra springbeauties are diploid with a chromosome base number of x = 7 [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Distribution

The wildflower is endemic to northern California and south-central Oregon. [4] [5]

It is native to the Sierra Nevada as far south as Farewell Gap; and is indigenous to the Sweetwater Range, Trinity Mountains, Inner Klamath Range, southern Cascade Range, and northeast to the Warner Mountains and Steens Mountain of the Harney Basin Region of Oregon. [2] It grows in subalpine habitats such as scree and gravelly snowmelt stream banks.

Description

Claytonia nevadensis is a perennial herb growing from a network of fleshy rhizomes with a small horizontal caudex at ground level. It takes the form of a leafy clump with a stem no longer than about 10 centimeters. [2]

The thick red-green leaves are oval to spade-shaped and a few centimeters long, not counting the longer petiole of the most basal leaves. [2]

The inflorescence is a dense cluster of 2 to 8 flowers which nests in the clump of leaves or arises on a very short stalk. Each flower has five magenta to pink-tinted white petals up to a centimeter long. The bloom period is July to September. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Eriophyllum lanatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Eriophyllum lanatum, with the common names common woolly sunflower, Oregon sunshine and golden yarrow, is a common, widespread, North American plant in the family Asteraceae.

<i>Claytonia virginica</i> Species of plant

Claytonia virginica, the Virginia springbeauty, eastern spring beauty, grass-flower or fairy spud, is an herbaceous perennial plant in the family Montiaceae. Its native range is eastern North America. Its scientific name honors Colonial Virginian botanist John Clayton (1694–1773).

<i>Claytonia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Claytonia is a genus of flowering plants native to Asia, North America, and Central America. The vitamin-rich leaves can be eaten raw or cooked, and the tubers can be prepared like potatoes.

<i>Claytonia sibirica</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae

Claytonia sibirica is a flowering plant in the family Montiaceae, commonly known as pink purslane, candy flower, Siberian spring beauty or Siberian miner's lettuce. A synonym is Montia sibirica. It is native to Aleutian Is. and western North America and has been introduced into parts of Europe and Scandinavia.

<i>Helianthella californica</i> Species of flowering plant

Helianthella californica is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name California helianthella. This wildflower is native to the mountains of California, northwestern Nevada, and southwestern Oregon.

<i>Caltha leptosepala</i> Species of flowering plant

Caltha leptosepala, the white marsh marigold, twinflowered marsh marigold, or broadleaved marsh marigold, is a perennial species of flowering plant in the buttercup family. It is native to western North America from Alaska to New Mexico, where it grows in wet mountain habitats in alpine and subalpine regions. There are two general wild types of this species, one native to the interior and one that grows along the Pacific coast and coastal mountains, but these are not always treated separately.

<i>Claytonia exigua</i> Species of flowering plant

Claytonia exigua is a species of wildflower known by the common names serpentine springbeauty and pale claytonia, in the family Montiaceae.

<i>Claytonia cordifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Claytonia cordifolia is a species of wildflower in the family Montiaceae known by the common name heartleaf springbeauty. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Utah, where it grows in shallow lakes and in streams or springs and wetlands including bogs and fens according to Miller and Chambers (2006). It is a perennial herb growing from a long, budding rhizome and producing an erect stem up to 40 centimeters tall. The basal leaves have oval blades up to 9 centimeters long with heart-shaped bases where they attach to their long petioles. There is also a pair of oval-shaped leaves at a midpoint on the stem. The stalked inflorescence bears up to 12 small flowers with five white petals each about a centimeter long.

<i>Claytonia gypsophiloides</i> Species of flowering plant

Claytonia gypsophiloides, known by the common names gypsum springbeauty and Coast Range claytonia, is a species of wildflower in the family Montiaceae.

<i>Claytonia megarhiza</i> Species of flowering plant

Claytonia megarhiza is a species of wildflower in the family Montiaceae known by the common names fell-fields claytonia and alpine springbeauty. The specific epithet megarhiza is Greek for "large roots".

<i>Claytonia palustris</i> Species of flowering plant

Claytonia palustris is a species of wildflower in the family Montiaceae known by the common names Jonesville springbeauty and marsh claytonia. Often mistaken for Claytonia sibirica, the species is diploid with a chromosome base number of x = 6.

<i>Claytonia parviflora</i> Species of flowering plant

Claytonia parviflora is a species of wildflower in the family Montiaceae known by the common name Indian lettuce. It is native to western North America from southwestern Canada to northwestern Mexico, where it is found in many types of habitat, particularly areas that are moist in the spring.

<i>Claytonia rubra</i> Species of flowering plant

Claytonia rubra is a species of wildflower in the family Montiaceae known by the common names redstem springbeauty and erubescent miner's lettuce. It is native to western North America from southwestern Canada to the United States of America extending from The Black Hills and western slopes of the Rocky Mountains to the Cascade and Coast Range, Ochoco and Wallowa Mountains south to the Warner Mountains, Yolla Bolly Mountains, and Sierra Nevada and Transverse Ranges [Mt. Pinos and Mt. San Gorgonio], where it is found in coniferous forests and shrublands. This is an annual herb with stems up to about 15 centimeters long. Some individuals may overwinter as biennials. The basal leaves have small rounded to diamond-shaped blades on long, tapering petioles. There are also leaves on the stem which may be rounded or squared and sometimes fuse together to create a bowl around the stem. All the leaves possess blunt (obtuse) tips according to published descriptions and taxonomic treatments. The herbage is red or pink in color at all stages of development. The inflorescence is a dense cluster of up to 30 tiny flowers, each with petals less than 4 millimeters long and white to pink-tinted in color. Together with Claytonia perfoliata and Claytonia parviflora, Claytonia rubra comprises what is almost certainly a polyploid pillar complex based on three diploid species, each occupying a definitive ecological niche.

Claytonia saxosa, known by the common name Brandegee's springbeauty, is a species of wildflower in the family Montiaceae.

Claytonia umbellata is a species of wildflower in the purslane family known by the common name Great Basin springbeauty. It is native to the Great Basin of the United States, where it grows mainly in subalpine coniferous forests, often on north-facing exposed slopes in the talus. It is a perennial herb growing from a tuberous root up to 5 centimeters wide and a thin taproot. Most of the stem develops underground, as do the petioles of the most basal leaves. Above the ground appear a few oval-shaped fleshy red to green leaves and an inflorescence of up to 12 flowers. Each flower has five magenta to deeply pink-tinted white petals.

<i>Micranthes aprica</i> Species of flowering plant

Micranthes aprica is a species of flowering plant known by the common name Sierra saxifrage. It is native to the high mountains of California, including the Sierra Nevada and the southern Cascade Range, and adjacent slopes in southern Oregon and western Nevada. It grows in mountain habitat in areas of alpine climate, such as meadows and next to streams of snowmelt. It is a perennial herb which spends most of the year in a dormant state in order to save water, and rarely flowers. It produces a small gray-green basal rosette of toothed oval leaves up to about 4 centimeters long. When it does bloom, it sends up an erect inflorescence on a peduncle several centimeters tall topped with a cluster of flowers. Each flower has five sepals, five small white petals, and a clump of whiskery stamens at the center.

<i>Claytonia caroliniana</i> Species of flowering plant

Claytonia caroliniana, the Carolina springbeauty, is an herbaceous perennial in the family Montiaceae. It was formerly placed in the Portulacaceae. Its native range is eastern and central North America. It is most commonly found in the New England area of the United States but its habitat extends from Ontario and a northern limit in the Cape Anguille Mountains of Newfoundland and south to Alabama. It grows approximately 6 inches tall in forests of the Appalachian Mountains and piedmont

Claytonia tuberosa, commonly known as Beringian springbeauty or tuberous springbeauty, is a species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae. It is a perennial herb indigenous to Alaska, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, and the Yukon of North America, westward to East Asia–Siberia. The perennial grows from a globose tuberous root to a height of 15 centimetres (6 in) and bears several hermaphrodite white flowers on stems bearing a single pair of petiolate cauline leaves. Its closest relative is probably Claytonia virginica.

<i>Claytonia ogilviensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Claytonia ogilviensis, common name Ogilvie Mountains spring beauty, is a plant endemic to the Ogilvie Mountains and the Dawson Range in the Yukon Territory of Canada. These mountains extend into Alaska, and one of the known populations is less than 1 km from the border, so it would not be surprising if the plant were to be found in Alaska as well.

<i>Claytonia rosea</i> Species of flowering plant

Claytonia rosea, commonly called Rocky Mountain spring beauty, western springbeauty or Madrean springbeauty, is a diminutive spring blooming ephemeral plant with pale pink to magenta flowers. It grows a small round tuberous root and it one of the earliest wildflowers of spring in its range. It is found in dry meadows in forests of ponderosa and Chihuahuan pines, and moist ledges of mountain slopes of the Beaver Dam Mountains of Utah, Colorado Front Range, and Sierra Madre Occidental, south and east to the Sierra Maderas del Carmen of Coahuila.

References

  1. Miller, J. M. and K. L. Chambers. 2006. Systematics of Claytonia (Portulacaceae). Systematic Botany Monographs 78: 1-236. ISBN   0-912861-78-9
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Jepson eFlora: Claytonia nevadensis
  3. Flora of North America
  4. Calflora: Claytonia nevadensis
  5. Chambers, K. L. 1963. Claytonia nevadensis in Oregon. Leaflets Western Botany 10: 1-8.