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 rocky ground and cliffs in western North America. Local Native Americans ate the roots, which have also been used to treat sore throats.
Lewisia brachycalyx is a species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae, known by the common name short-sepal bitter-root or shortsepal lewisia. It is native to the mountains of the southwestern United States and Baja California, where it grows in moist habitat such as meadows.
Lewisia cantelovii is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae known by the common name Cantelow's lewisia. It is endemic to California, where it is known from the northeastern mountain ranges from the Klamath Mountains to the northern Sierra Nevada. It grows in rocky, moist mountain habitat. This is a perennial herb growing from a short, thick taproot and caudex unit. It produces a basal rosette of thick, fleshy, blunt-tipped spoon-shaped leaves with serrated edges. The inflorescence is a very slender erect stem up to 45 centimeters tall topped with a spreading panicle of flowers and glandular, toothed bracts. Each flower has 5 to 7 oval petals each one half to one centimeter long. The petals are white or very pale pink with sharp dark pink veins. At the center of the flower are five stamens tipped with dark pink anthers.
Lewisia congdonii, known by the common name Congdon's lewisia, is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae.
Lewisia disepala is a species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae known by the common name Yosemite lewisia.
Lewisia kelloggii is a species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae known by the common name Kellogg's lewisia. It is endemic to the Sierra Nevada of California, where it is known from several sites high in the mountains. It grows in rocky mountain habitat in granite and slate substrates. This is a perennial herb growing from a thick, short taproot and caudex unit. It produces a basal rosette of many thick, leathery, spoon-shaped leaves up to 9 centimeters long. The inflorescence bears several flowers, each on a very short stalk. The flower has 5 to 13 shiny white or pinkish petals just over a centimeter long. Under the petals are two sepals and two similar bracts lined with spherical resin glands.
Lewisia nevadensis is a species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae known by the common name Nevada lewisia. It is native to much of the western United States, where it grows in moist mountain habitat, such as meadows. This is a small perennial herb growing from a taproot and caudex unit. It produces a basal rosette of several narrow, fingerlike to threadlike fleshy leaves up to 13 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a bundle of short stems a few centimeters tall each bearing a flower. The flower has 5 to 10 shiny white to pale pink petals each 1 to 2 centimeters long, pointed or with blunt tips. At the center are many stamens. This is sometimes grown as an ornamental plant suitable for alpine and rock gardens.
Lewisia oppositifolia is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae known by the common name opposite-leaf lewisia. It is native to the Klamath Mountains of Josephine County, Oregon, and Del Norte County, California, where it is a local serpentine endemic generally found in moist areas. This is a perennial herb growing from a small taproot and caudex unit. It produces a basal rosette of several lance-shaped, blunt-tipped fleshy leaves up to 11 centimeters long. There are sometimes smaller leaves located on the lower stem. The inflorescence is made up of one or more erect stems up to about 20 centimeters long, each bearing 1 to 6 flowers. The flower has 8 to 11 white to pale pink petals with blunt or jagged tips, each between 1 and 2 centimeters long. At the center are several stamens with pale anthers. This plant has a limited distribution and it is threatened by human activity in the area, such as logging.
Lewisia pygmaea is a species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae known by the common name alpine lewisia and pygmy bitterroot. It is native to western North America from Alaska and Alberta to California and New Mexico, where it grows in many types of moist, rocky mountain habitat, such as gravel beds and sandy meadows.
Lewisia stebbinsii is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae known by the common name Stebbins' lewisia. It is endemic to California, where it is known from less than fifteen sites in the Inner North Coast Ranges of Mendocino and Trinity Counties, mainly in Mendocino National Forest.
Ribes montigenum is a species of currant known by the common names mountain gooseberry, alpine prickly currant, western prickly gooseberry, and gooseberry currant. It is native to western North America from Washington south to California and east as far as the Rocky Mountains, where it grows in high mountain habitat types in subalpine and alpine climates, such as forests and talus. It is a spreading shrub growing up to 1.5 meters tall, the branching stems covered in prickles and hairs and bearing 1 to 5 sharp spines at intervals.
Selaginella densa is a species of spikemoss known by the common names lesser spikemoss, prairie spikemoss, and Rocky Mountains spikemoss. It is native to western North America, where it can be found from Alaska to Ontario, the Dakotas, Texas and far northern California.
Stenotus lanuginosus is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names woolly mock goldenweed and woolly stenotus.
Townsendia condensata is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names cushion Townsend daisy and cushion townsendia. It is native to North America where it is known from many scattered occurrences in the mountains of the western United States and Alberta in Canada. It is mainly limited to the alpine climates of high mountain peaks, where it grows in meadows, tundra, and barren, rocky talus. It grows alongside other alpine plants such as Eriogonum androsaceum.
Packera franciscana is a rare species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name San Francisco Peaks groundsel, or San Francisco Peaks ragwort. It is endemic to Arizona in the United States, where it is known only from the San Francisco Peaks in Coconino County. It is threatened by recreational activities in its habitat. It is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.
Lewisia maguirei is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae known by the common name Maguire's lewisia, or Maguire's bitterroot. It is endemic to Nevada in the United States, where it is known only from eastern Nye County.
Erigeron lanatus is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name woolly fleabane. It is native to western North America, where it occurs in the mountains straddling the border between British Columbia and Alberta and Montana, with isolated populations occurring as far north as Yukon and as far south as Colorado.
Draba exunguiculata is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common names clawless draba and Grays Peak draba. It is endemic to Colorado in the United States.
Draba graminea is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common names Rocky Mountain draba and San Juan Whitlow-grass. It is endemic to the state of Colorado in the United States, where it is limited to the San Juan Mountains.
The flora of the U.S. Sierra Nevada alpine zone is characterized by small, low growing, cushion and mat forming plants that can survive the harsh conditions in the high-altitude alpine zone above the timber line. These flora often occur in alpine fell-fields. The Sierra Nevada alpine zone lacks a dominant plant species that characterizes it, so may or may not be called a vegetation type. But it is found above the subalpine forest, which is the highest in a succession of recognized vegetation types at increasing elevations.
