Calyptridium umbellatum

Calyptridium umbellatum, synonym Cistanthe umbellata, is a species of flowering plant in the montia family known by the common name Mount Hood pussypaws or — especially outside the Pacific Northwest — simply pussy-paws.[5]

Mount Hood pussypaws
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Montiaceae
Genus: Calyptridium
Species:
C. umbellatum
Binomial name
Calyptridium umbellatum
Synonyms[1][2][3][4]
  • Cistanthe umbellata (Torr.) Hershk.
  • Spraguea umbellatum Torr. (basionym)

Range

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Calyptridium umbellatum is native to western North America from British Columbia to California to Colorado, where it grows in a number of habitat types, including areas inhospitable to many other plant types, such as those with alpine climates.

A small subgroup of C. umbellatum are located in the Zayante Sandhills, a biological island in the Santa Cruz Mountains.[6] These individuals reside on a singular hill in the entirety of the sandhills, and their frail petals and loose seeds allow for easy wind dispersal.

Habit

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It is a perennial herb forming generally two or more basal rosettes of thick, spoon-shaped leaves each a few centimeters long. The inflorescence arises from the rosette, a dense, spherical umbel of rounded sepals and four small petals.

C. umbellatum usually has only one inflorescence per basal rosette; the related C. monospermum generally has more than one.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b The name Cistanthe umbellata was published in Phytologia, 68(4): 268. 1990. New York. The basionym, Spraguea umbellata Torr., was first described and published in Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, 6(2): 4 (-5; t. 1). 1853. Washington, DC. "Plant Name Details for Cistanthe umbellata". IPNI. Retrieved August 18, 2010. nomenclatural synonym: Portulacaceae Spraguea umbellata Torr.
  2. ^ a b GRIN (May 9, 2007). "Cistanthe umbellata information from NPGS/GRIN". Taxonomy for Plants. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland: USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Archived from the original on January 20, 2009. Retrieved August 18, 2010. Synonyms: Calyptridium umbellatum (Torr.) Greene; Spraguea umbellatum Torr. (basionym)
  3. ^  Calyptridium umbellatum was published in Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 13: 144. 1886. New York. "Plant Name Details for Calyptridium umbellatum". IPNI. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  4. ^ "Plant Name Details for Spraguea umbellata". IPNI. Retrieved August 18, 2010. Distribution: Forks of Nozah River in the foothills of Sierra Nevada of N California, California. Collector: J.C.Fremont s.n.
  5. ^ "Calyptridium umbellatum". CalFlora. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  6. ^ "The Rare Santa Cruz Sandhills and the People who Love Them". Bay Nature Magazine. 13 April 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  7. ^ "Key to Calyptridium". Jepson Herbarium. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
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