Flora of North America species comparison

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Montia chamissoi

Chamisso's montia, spring beauty, toad lily, water miner's-lettuce, water montia
Habit Plants perennial, rhizomatous and stoloniferous, usually bulbiferous; rhizomes and stolons slender.
Stems

erect, aerial portion 2–32 cm, subterranean portion 1–15 cm.
Leaves

opposite, petiolate;

blade oblanceolate to rhombic or ovate, short, 2–60 × 1–20 mm.
Inflorescences

ebracteate.
Flowers

2–10, often replaced by bulbils;

sepals 2–4 mm;

petals 5, white or pink, 2–4 mm;

stamens 5, anther pink or lavender.
Seeds

1–1.5 mm, tuberculate;

elaiosome present.
2n

= 22.

Montia chamissoi
Phenology Flowering May–Aug.
Habitat Wetlands, riverbanks and streamsides from low to high elevations of coastal valleys and mountains
Elevation 500-3700 m (1600-12100 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; AZ; CA; CO; IA; ID; MN; MT; NM; NV; NY; OR; PA; UT; WA; WY; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

A related species, Montia calcicola Standley & Steyermark, occurs in the Guatemalan highlands.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 487.
Parent taxa Portulacaceae > Montia
Sibling taxa
M. bostockii, M. dichotoma, M. diffusa, M. fontana, M. howellii, M. linearis, M. parvifolia
Synonyms Claytonia chamissoi, Crunocallis chamissoi
Name authority (Ledebour ex Sprengel) Greene: Fl. Francisc., 180. (1891)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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