Flora of North America species comparison

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Montia chamissoi

Montia fontana

Chamisso's montia, spring beauty, toad lily, water miner's-lettuce, water montia

annual water miner's-lettuce, blinks, spring water chickweed, water blinks, water chickweed, water montia
Habit Plants perennial, rhizomatous and stoloniferous, usually bulbiferous; rhizomes and stolons slender. Plants annual or biennial, never bulbiferous.
Stems

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

prostrate or decumbent, 1–30 cm, freely rooting at nodes, forming mats.
Leaves

opposite, petiolate;

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

opposite, sessile;

blade oblanceolate to rhombic, 2–20 × 0.5–10 mm.
Inflorescences

ebracteate.

leafy.
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.

1–8, slightly bilateral;

sepals 1–1.5 mm;

petals 5, connate proximally, white, unequal, 1–2 mm;

stamens 3, anther pink or yellow.
Seeds

1–1.5 mm, tuberculate;

elaiosome present.

0.7–1.2 mm, tuberculate;

elaiosome present.
2n

= 22.

= 20, 40.

Montia chamissoi

Montia fontana
Phenology Flowering May–Aug. Flowering spring.
Habitat Wetlands, riverbanks and streamsides from low to high elevations of coastal valleys and mountains Pools, springs, meadows, other wet or moist places
Elevation 500-3700 m (1600-12100 ft) 0-3700 m (0-12100 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]
from FNA
AK; CA; ID; MA; ME; MT; NH; NV; NY; OR; UT; VT; WA; WY; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; NU; ON; PE; QC; YT; SPM; Central America; South America; Africa; Greenland; Asia; Europe; Arctic regions
[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.)

Montia fontana displays a multitude of forms varying in stature, leaf shape, and seed size. Segregate species, varieties, and subspecies have been named. Based on my study of worldwide collections of the species, much variation in M. fontana is attributable to phenotypic differentiation of ramets produced by local environmental conditions and unrelated to genetic variation. Until macromolecular or other studies shed light on the variation in M. fontana, it seems pointless to recognize infraspecific taxa or segregate species.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 487. FNA vol. 4, p. 487.
Parent taxa Portulacaceae > Montia Portulacaceae > Montia
Sibling taxa
M. bostockii, M. dichotoma, M. diffusa, M. fontana, M. howellii, M. linearis, M. parvifolia
M. bostockii, M. chamissoi, M. dichotoma, M. diffusa, M. howellii, M. linearis, M. parvifolia
Synonyms Claytonia chamissoi, Crunocallis chamissoi Claytonia hallii, M. clara, M. funstonii, M. hallii, M. minor
Name authority (Ledebour ex Sprengel) Greene: Fl. Francisc., 180. (1891) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 87. (1753)
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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