Flora of North America species comparison

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Lewisia nevadensis

Nevada bitterroot, Nevada lewisia, Sierra lewisia
Taproots

napiform to shortly fusiform.
Stems

suberect, becoming horizontal or deflexed after anthesis, base subterranean, 5–12 cm.
Leaves

basal leaves withering at or soon after anthesis, gradually narrowed to broad petiole, blade narrowly linear to linear-oblanceolate, flattened, 4–15 cm, margins entire, apex obtuse to subacute;

cauline leaves absent.
Inflorescences

usually with flowers borne singly, rarely 2–3-flowered in racemose cymes;

bracts 2, opposite, linear-lanceolate, 6–18 mm, margins entire, apex acute.
Flowers

pedicellate, not disarticulate in fruit, 0.5–2 cm diam.;

sepals 2, broadly ovate, 5–13 mm, herbaceous at anthesis, margins entire or with few shallow, nonglandular teeth, apex acute to subacute;

petals 5–10, white or rarely pinkish, elliptic to oblanceolate, 10–15(–20) mm;

stamens 6–15;

stigmas 3–6;

pedicel 10–40 mm.
Capsules

5–10 mm.
Seeds

20–50, 1.3 mm, shiny, muricate.
2n

= 56.

Lewisia nevadensis
Phenology Flowering late spring–late summer.
Habitat Wet grassy slopes and meadows near springs
Elevation 1300-3200 m (4300-10500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; ID; NM; NV; OR; UT; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Lewisia nevadensis represents one extreme of the L. pygmaea complex (see discussion under 13. L. pygmaea). Questionable geographic occurrences reflect plants that have one or more features otherwise suggestive of L. pygmaea (e.g., more elongate roots, truncate and/or toothed sepals, and colored petals); such intermediates also occur in the range of “typical” L. nevadensis (relatively robust plants with napiform roots, solitary flowers, acute sepals with entire margins, and white petals). Uncertainty respecting the affinity of specimens prevails in those from Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, and Wyoming. There are no supporting specimens from Wyoming.

B. L. Davidson (2000) noted that Lewisia nevadensis is a garden weed in Colorado; it is not clear whether or not these plants are escapes from cultivation.

The floral symmetry of Lewisia nevadensis may be somewhat elliptical, the two outer sepals and the remaining petals imbricate and opposite the sepals, giving the flowers a pinched appearance, a feature also reported for L. oppositifolia.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4.
Parent taxa Portulacaceae > Lewisia
Sibling taxa
L. brachycalyx, L. cantelovii, L. columbiana, L. congdonii, L. cotyledon, L. disepala, L. kelloggii, L. leeana, L. longipetala, L. maguirei, L. oppositifolia, L. pygmaea, L. rediviva, L. stebbinsii, L. triphylla
Synonyms Calandrinia nevadensis, Claytonia grayana, L. bernardina, L. pygmaea var. nevadensis, Oreobroma nevadense
Name authority (A. Gray) B. L. Robinson: in A. Gray et al., Syn. Fl. N. Amer. 1: 268. (1897)
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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