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Truckee lewisia

Lewisia longipetala

Also called Long Petaled Lewisia

Truckee lewisia
Photo: moonrhythm, CC BY 2.0

Truckee lewisia is a rare, small perennial alpine herb endemic to the Sierra Nevada of California, known from fewer than 20 sites near Lake Tahoe. It needs cool, moist, snowy conditions and is rarely grown outside its native range.

Family
Montiaceae (Monti family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Part shade
Water
Keep consistently moist during growth and never let it dry out, though it needs excellent drainage to avoid rot.
Soil
Gritty, fast-draining mix such as coarse sand, grit and humus.
Temperature
Cool conditions suited to subalpine climates; tolerates winter cold well but is stressed by heat.
How easy
Hard
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
NE. California
Climate
subalpine or subarctic

About

Lewisia longipetala is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae known by the common names long-petalled lewisia and Truckee lewisia. It is endemic to the Sierra Nevada of California, where it is known from less than 20 locations in areas not far from Lake Tahoe. It grows in subalpine and alpine climates in moist areas in rocky habitat, such as talus that retains patches of snow year-round. Most specimens grow on north-facing slopes with little surrounding vegetation. The plant thrives in the snow, growing largest and most densely in areas of high snowpack and becoming easily water-stressed when far away from areas with snow.

This is a perennial herb growing from a slender taproot and caudex unit. It produces a basal rosette of many thin but fleshy leaves 3 to 6 centimeters (1.2 to 2.4 in) long. The inflorescence is made up of several flowers on short stalks.

Other Lewisia plants

Shortsepal lewisia · Cantelow's lewisia · Columbian lewisia · Congdon's lewisia · Siskiyou lewisia · Yosemite lewisia · Kellogg's lewisia · Quill-leaf lewisia · Maguire's lewisia · Nevada lewisia · Oppositeleaf lewisia · Alpine lewisia

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Lewisia longipetala by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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