Kingdom Plantae Family Montiaceae Scientific name Claytonia nevadensis | Order Caryophyllales Genus Claytonia Rank Species | |
Similar Claytonia palustris, Claytonia exigua, Claytonia parviflora, Claytonia megarhiza, Claytonia lanceolata | ||
Claytonia nevadensis, known by the common names Sierra springbeauty and Sierra Nevada claytonia, is a species of wildflower in the Montiaceae family.
Contents
Distribution
The wildflower is endemic to northern California.
It is native to the Sierra Nevada primarily, and occasionally in the Inner Klamath Range and southern Cascade Range. 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.
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.
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 pink-tinted white petals up to a centimeter long. The bloom period is July to September.