Lewisia columbiana
Lewisia columbiana | |
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var. columbiana | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
(unranked): | Angiosperms |
(unranked): | Eudicots |
(unranked): | Core eudicots |
Order: | Caryophyllales |
Family: | Portulacaceae |
Genus: | Lewisia |
Species: | L. columbiana |
Binomial name | |
Lewisia columbiana (J.T.Howell ex A.Gray) B.L.Rob. | |
Lewisia columbiana is a species of flowering plant in the purslane family known by the common name Columbian lewisia. It is native to the western United States and British Columbia, where it grows in rocky mountain habitat. It is a perennial herb growing from a short, thick taproot and caudex unit. It produces a basal rosette of many thick, fleshy, tapering, blunt-tipped or pointed leaves with smooth edges, each 2 to 10 centimeters long. The inflorescence arises on several stems up to about 30 centimeters tall, each stem bearing an array of up to 100 flowers each. Near the flowers are small, pointed bracts tipped with shiny spherical resin glands. The flower has 4 to 11 petals, each up to about a centimeter in length and oval in shape with a notched tip. The petals are white to pale pink, usually with sharp dark pink veining.