Lewisia brachycalyx
Lewisia brachycalyx is a species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae, known by the common name short-sepal bitter-root or shortsepal lewisia. It is native to the mountains of the southwestern United States and Baja California, where it grows in moist habitat such as meadows.
Description
Lewisia brachycalyx is a deciduous perennial growing from a short thick taproot and caudex unit. It produces a basal rosette of thick, fleshy, blunt-tipped narrow leaves up to long. The inflorescence is under tall, taking the form of a cluster of several flowers sitting atop the leaf rosette. Each flower has 5 to 9 shiny white or pink petals about long. At the center are many stamens and stigmas clumped together. The Latin specific epithet brachycalyx means "having a short calyx".The genus Lewisia was moved in 2009 from the purslane family with adoption of the APG III system, which established the family Montiaceae.