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Kelseya is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Rosaceae. The only species is Kelseya uniflora. It is commonly called the oneflower kelseya, spiraea or alpine laurel. The genus was named in honor of Francis Duncan Kelsey, a Montana resident botanist, who discovered the plant in 1888 at the "Gate of the Mountains" near Townsend.
Kelseya uniflora is a perennial limestone endemic that grows in cracks of volcanic and limestone outcrops at 1500-3500 m elevation. It is native in 3 states in Northwestern USA: Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. It typically grows as a solitary plant in a sun-exposed position as a ground covering subshrub. This species has also been reported in riparian woodland but this should be considered an outlier. Their most prolific growth is on the South Summit of Hunt Mountain in the Bighorn Mountains where it grows on Karst features.
The reduction in plant stature and its xeric alpine habitat make it a popular but challenging subject for alpine garden enthusiasts.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Kelseya by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
