Montia chamissoi | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Caryophyllales |
Family: | Montiaceae |
Genus: | Montia |
Species: | M. chamissoi |
Binomial name | |
Montia chamissoi | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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Montia chamissoi is a species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae known by the common names of water minerslettuce, [2] water montia, Indian lettuce, and toad lily. It is native to much of western North America from Alaska to the southwestern and central United States and also in British Columbia. It grows in moist to wet soils in a variety of habitat types, such as meadows, wetlands, plains, and montanes (Kershaw et al., 1998). It is sometimes aquatic, anchoring in mud and floating in water.
Montia chamissoi is a perennial herb growing from a pinkish rhizome and spreading through stolons. The fleshy stems are erect, creeping, tangled in mats, or floating, growing from five to twenty centimeters long. The oblong or widely lance-shaped leaves are oppositely arranged and measure anywhere from two to five centimeters in length. The inflorescence is a raceme of two or more flowers, sometimes arising from leaf axils. The flower has usually five white or pinkish petals just under a centimeter in length and includes five stamens with a style tipped with three stigmas. Their fruits involve egg-shaped capsules that are widest above the middle that range from two to three millimeters long. These fruits are black, bumpy, shiny, and oblong shaped. The flower blooms from June to August (Kershaw et al., 1998).
Montia chamissoi is endemic to western North America, with a wide distribution. It appears between 7,000 and 9,000 feet in elevation, [3] in wetlands, montanes, and prairie zones. It occurs in the Rocky Mountain region, Pacific Alaska region, Pacific region, and in part of the mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes region. It is prevalent in Canada, in Alberta and British Columbia. It can also grow on the dry slopes of the plains and foothills. It is found rarely in coastal areas. [3]
Brussard noted that there have been failures and success when trying to preserve M. chamissoi due to mining development in the United States. [3] Brussard observed that a population of M. chamissoi was destroyed by road construction near a ski area, the only known population in Gunnison County, Colorado. This led to an increase in Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratories and helped establish the laboratory's claim to undisturbed habitat as a natural resource (Brussard, 1982). It is a rare plant species in British Columbia and is a candidate species for restoration and preservation. (Rose & Burton, 2011). Even though, M.chamissoi has a very wide distribution it is currently listed as endangered in Minnesota and Pennsylvania and restoration efforts are underway.
Clintonia is a genus of flowering plants in the lily family Liliaceae. Plants of the genus are distributed across the temperate regions of North America and eastern Asia, in the mesic understory of deciduous or coniferous forests. The genus, first described by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1818, was named for DeWitt Clinton (1769–1828), a naturalist and politician from the U.S. state of New York. For this reason, plants of the genus are commonly known as Clinton's lily. The common name bluebead refer to the distinctive fruit of members of the genus. Since fruit color varies somewhat across species, the common name bead lily is used as well.
Rubus parviflorus, commonly called thimbleberry, is a species of Rubus native to northern temperate regions of North America. It bears edible red fruit similar in appearance to a raspberry, but shorter, almost hemispherical. Because the fruit does not hold together well, it has not been commercially developed for the retail berry market, but is cultivated for landscapes. The plant has large hairy leaves and no thorns.
Caltha leptosepala, the white marsh marigold, twinflowered marsh marigold, or broadleaved marsh marigold, is a 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.
Androsace occidentalis is a species of flowering plant in the primrose family known by the common name western rockjasmine.
Antennaria corymbosa is a North American species of flowering plants in the daisy family known by the common name flat-top pussytoes or meadow pussytoes. It is native to western Canada and the Western United States south as far as Tulare County in California and Rio Arriba County in New Mexico. It grows in moist, cool areas such as mountain meadows and riverbanks. Most of the populations are found in the Rocky Mountains, the Cascades, and the Sierra Nevada.
Castilleja parviflora is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name mountain Indian paintbrush. It is native to western North America from Alaska to California, where it grows in high mountain habitat, including areas of alpine climate.
Chenopodium atrovirens is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family known by the common names pinyon goosefoot and dark goosefoot.
Montia diffusa is a species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae known by the common names branching montia and spreading miner's lettuce native to North America.
Montia howellii is a species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae known by the common names Howell's miner's lettuce and Howell's montia. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to northern California, where it grows in moist to wet habitat, including vernal pools and meadows. It sometimes grows in shallow standing water such as puddles. The species is known from fossilized seeds recovered from sediments of the Pleistocene Tomales Formation and from a small paleoflora at San Bruno. Further, Daniel Axelrod discussed Montia howellii as one of the biogeographically significant species comprising the Millerton paleoflora at Tomales.
Montia parvifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae known by the common names little-leaf miner's lettuce, small-leaved blinks and small-leaved montia. It is native to western North America from Alaska to California to Montana, where it grows in moist to wet areas in several types of mountain habitat.
Ribes hudsonianum is a North American species of currant, known by the common name northern black currant.
Romanzoffia sitchensis is a species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common name Sitka mistmaiden. It is native to western North America from Alaska through British Columbia and Alberta to far northern California and Montana.
Rosa pisocarpa is a species of rose known by the common name cluster rose or swamp rose. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to northern California, where it generally grows in moist habitats. It is a shrub sometimes forming a thicket, and growing up to 2.5 meters tall. The stems can be dark red or blackish and are often studded with straight, paired prickles at nodes. The leaves are each made up of several toothed oval leaflets, the terminal leaflet up to 4 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a cyme of up to 10 flowers with pink petals each up to 2 centimeters in length. The fruit is a rose hip about a centimeter wide. The hips are pear- or egg-shaped and borne in clusters, and are decorative in fall and early winter, when they are red or reddish-purple and contrast with yellow foliage. Fall foliage can be yellow or dark red.
Bistorta bistortoides is a perennial herb in the buckwheat and knotweed family Polygonaceae. The species name remains unresolved.
Cirsium vinaceum is a rare species of thistle known by the common name Sacramento Mountains thistle. It is endemic to Otero County, New Mexico, in the United States, where it is known only from the Sacramento Mountains. The plant can be found in six canyon systems in a southern section of this mountain range spanning about 32 kilometers. It is rare because it is limited to a specific type of mountain wetland which is both naturally uncommon and threatened by a number of forces. The plant was federally listed as threatened in 1987.
Galearis rotundifolia is a species of flowering plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It is commonly called roundleaf orchis and small round-leaved orchid. It is native to North America, where it occurs throughout Canada, part of the northern United States, and Greenland.
Erythranthe gemmipara is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Phrymaceae, known by the common name Rocky Mountain monkeyflower. It is endemic to Colorado in the United States, where there are eight known occurrences. It was formerly known as Mimulus gemmiparus.
Linanthus pungens is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common names granite prickly-phlox and granite gilia. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Baja California and east to Montana and New Mexico.
Trollius laxus is a rare flowering plant species in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. It is native to North America and is considered to have two subspecies, one with a distribution is the east and one in the west. Common names for Trollius laxus include American globeflower and American spreading globeflower. The American Globeflower, Trollius laxus is an endangered species of flowering plants Native to Northeastern United States. This species of plants is limited in range by their ability to exclusively survive in wetlands and marshes. Thus, clusters of the species are constantly threatened by the ever-changing hydrology of the range they are confined to.
Mitrophyllum is a genus of succulent plants of the family Aizoaceae, indigenous to the arid region around the Richtersveld, on the border of South Africa and Namibia.