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December 18, 2009 : Lewisia triphylla
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Plant Family / Families: Portulacaceae
Scientific Name and Author: Lewisia triphylla (S.Watson) B.L.Rob.
Name Location: Umatilla National Forest, Oregon, USA
Continuing with the plants of Oregon series, here is number 4 in a series of 5.
I suppose I might get in trouble with Lewisia experts for displaying an unrepresentative plant of this species. Most plants tend to have one to a few flowers with 2-5 leaves and dot the area where they grow (for examples, see photographs of Lewisia triphylla from the Burke Museum). This particular cluster was either a relative beast or, possibly, a hybrid. To give a sense of scale, this is about as wide across as the palm of my hand -- a very relative beast.
As you might expect, a plant native to Oregon will likely have a distribution spanning some parts of western North America. Do note, though (if you clicked on the link), the scattered distribution, coinciding roughly with high elevations as intimated by the Flora of North America account for the species: Lewisia triphylla (growing at elevations of 1500-3300m).
This population of plants was located in an exposed vernal streambed that had mostly dried out by the time of this photograph in early July, but not enough to avoid mud on the knees of my shorts. Other populations later observed elsewhere also had a high degree of soil moisture, usually from recently receded snow.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at December 18, 2009 12:00 PM
Comments
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Posted by: Lynne at December 18, 2009 12:41 PM
ah, Daniel - So DO appreciate your belly botany offerings. this li'l beauty and several of its cohabiting spp. just cover meadows in the central sierra about 6 - 8000' (forgive my unit of measure) - soft, bright green, barefoot-friendly -don't step in the bear poop! thanks again
Posted by: Quin at December 18, 2009 2:44 PM
Lewisia and Clarkia in the same week -- good fun!
Posted by: Robin at December 18, 2009 3:08 PM
do we not have a picture of daniel
in his mud on the knees shorts
Posted by: elizabeth a airhart at December 18, 2009 4:20 PM
elizabeth - ha! maybe you can convince him, maybe a calender of muddy botanists
Posted by: Quin at December 18, 2009 5:55 PM
Sooooo cute! If it had little cheeks I'd try to pinch them.
Posted by: Eric in SF at December 18, 2009 6:03 PM
If you were wearing shorts, how come the mud was on your clothing's knees and not yours'?
Posted by: Don Fenton at December 18, 2009 11:36 PM
Don, my hiking shorts extend to just below my knees, a necessary feature for taking close-ups of plants on rocky / slightly muddy / scratchy surfaces when I'm too lazy to carry kneepads (which is often).
Posted by: Daniel Mosquin 
at December 18, 2009 11:43 PM
Yeah! I take the point, although I would never wear shorts when hiking: jeans or other tough-materialed long trousers only; we have a rather extensive and lively population of highly-venemous snakes in Australia, and shorts in the bush is a sure sign of lunacy!
Posted by: Don Fenton at December 18, 2009 11:57 PM
Thanks for updating my knowledge and also for sharing it .
Posted by: tohaa at December 19, 2009 6:05 AM
Don, we are so lucky not to have a venomous snake problem here in the Northwestern U.S. like you have in Australia! Wearing shorts here means you'll probably suffer from some bug bites, possibly spider bites, and of course, some nasty scratches from the native (and non-native) flora. Also the chances of getting bitten by something particularly harmful (like a brown recluse) are really, very low; especially if you know where NOT to sit. Thank goodness. We are lucky indeed.
Posted by: lisa at December 19, 2009 11:44 AM
Please share your comments about the photograph(s) and accompanying write-up. Telling a story about the subject of the photograph(s) is also much appreciated! If you have a gardening question, the best place to ask is on the UBC Botanical Garden Forums. Thank you!
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Botany Photo of the Day is a project of the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research, located in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. UBC BGCPR is a department of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems within The University of British Columbia.
Where's the fun in posting a representative plant of the species? Part of what's so wonderful about plant life is how diverse it is, even within an individual species!