Common names:
Alpine lewisia, dwarf lewisia
Family:
Scientific name:
Lewisia pygmaea
Main flower color:
Range:
The Rocky Mountain states and all states to the west
Height:
Up to 3 inches
Habitat:
Streambanks, moist meadows and open, rocky places, in mountainous areas; from 7,000 to 13,000 feet
Leaves:
Basal, linear to narrowly oblanceolate, blunt-tipped, up to 3.5 inches long
Season:
June to August
The narrow, linear, greyish-green, fleshy leaves of lewisia pygmaea grow only at the base, in a rosette; they are curved in cross-section below and flattened above. Flowers are produced singly or in small clusters (up to four), on short stalks that have an opposite pair of leaf-like, gland-toothed bracts at or below the middle.
Flowers are formed of between five and nine white (less often pink) petals, often pale green at the base, and two broad, rounded sepals whose margins are lined with purplish teeth topped by small glands, a feature that distinguishes this species from the otherwise very similar lewisia nevadensis. It also has somewhat shorter petals, around 0.3 inches cf. 0.7 inches for lewisia nevadensis. Stamens number from five to eight, and the stigmas from three to six.
Flowers are formed of between five and nine white (less often pink) petals, often pale green at the base, and two broad, rounded sepals whose margins are lined with purplish teeth topped by small glands, a feature that distinguishes this species from the otherwise very similar lewisia nevadensis. It also has somewhat shorter petals, around 0.3 inches cf. 0.7 inches for lewisia nevadensis. Stamens number from five to eight, and the stigmas from three to six.
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