Flora of North America species comparison

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Claytonia megarhiza

(synonym of Claytonia megarhiza var. nivalis)
Claytonia megarhiza var. nivalis

alpine springbeauty
Habit Plants perennial, with stout, woody caudices; periderm 5–12 mm.
Stems

5–25 cm.
Leaves

basal leaves sessile, dilated at base into broad, succulent sheath, blade rhombic to oblanceolate, 2–10 × 0.4–2.8 cm, apex obtuse;

cauline leaves sessile, blade oblanceolate, 2–10 × 2–5 mm.
Inflorescences

multibracteate;

bracts subtending pedicels, apex obtuse.
Flowers

12–20 mm diam;

sepals 6–8 mm;

petals white, pink, or rose, 5–20 × 3–8 mm;

ovules 6.
Seeds

2–3 mm diam., shiny and smooth;

elaiosome 1 mm or less.
2n

= 12, 16, 24, 32, 34, 36.

Claytonia megarhiza
Phenology Flowering May–Aug.
Habitat Talus, scree, gravelly slopes
Elevation 2000-4000 m (6600-13100 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; NT
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 469.
Parent taxa Portulacaceae > Claytonia
Sibling taxa
C. acutifolia, C. arctica, C. arenicola, C. caroliniana, C. cordifolia, C. exigua, C. gypsophiloides, C. lanceolata, C. megarhiza, C. multiscapa, C. nevadensis, C. ogilviensis, C. palustris, C. parviflora, C. perfoliata, C. rosea, C. rubra, C. sarmentosa, C. saxosa, C. scammaniana, C. sibirica, C. tuberosa, C. umbellata, C. virginica, C. washingtoniana
Synonyms C. arctica var. megarhiza, C. megarhiza var. bellidifolia, C. megarhiza var. nivalis
Name authority (A. Gray) Parry ex S. Watson: Smithsonian Misc. Collect 258: 118. (1878)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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