Montia dichotoma |
Montia |
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dwarf miner's-lettuce, dwarf montia |
minerslettuce, montia, toad lily, water chickweed |
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Habit | Plants annual, not rhizomatous, stoloniferous, or bulbiferous. | Herbs, annual, biennial, or perennial, sometimes rhizomatous and/or stoloniferous, or with branched caudices (M. parvifolia), sometimes bulbiferous, succulent, glabrous. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stems | erect, branched, 1–10 cm. |
prostrate to decumbent or erect, usually branched, often rooting at nodes. |
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Leaves | alternate, erect, not distinctly petiolate, with clasping leaf sheaths; blade linear, 5–50 × 0.5–2 mm. |
cauline and sometimes basal; basal leaves in rosettes; cauline leaves 3 or more, alternate, opposite, or secund, distinct, not articulate at base, somewhat to markedly clasping, attachment points linear, petiolate or sessile; blade linear, oblong, lanceolate or oblanceolate to rhombic, ovate, or suborbiculate. |
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Inflorescences | terminal, 1-bracteate; bract linear to oblanceolate, 1–6 mm. |
axillary or terminal, racemose, somewhat to markedly secund (at least terminally), ebracteate or 1-bracteate at base of each flower. |
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Flowers | 4–12; sepals 1.5–2.5 mm; petals 5, white, 1.5–3 mm; stamens 3, anther yellow. |
radially symmetric (slightly irregular in M. fontana), not showy (except in M. parvifolia and M. bostockii), occasionally replaced by bulbils in M. chamissoi; sepals persistent, unequal; petals 5, sometimes absent, usually distinct (connate proximally in M. fontana); stamens 3–5 (occasionally 2 in M. howellii); ovary globose or linear-oblong, ovules 3; style 1; stigmas 3. |
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Capsules | 3-valved, longitudinally dehiscent from apex, valves not deciduous, margins involute. |
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Seeds | 0.8–1.2 mm, tuberculate; elaiosome absent. |
1–3, black, rounded, tuberculate (appearing smooth in M. parvifolia); elaiosome absent or, less than 1 mm. |
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x | = 7, 8, 10, 11. |
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2n | = 14. |
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Montia dichotoma |
Montia |
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Phenology | Flowering spring. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Moist or transitional wetland habitat in coastal and inland valleys | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 800-1600 m (2600-5200 ft) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
CA; ID; OR; WA; BC
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Worldwide |
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Discussion | Species 12 (8 in the flora). The classification of Montia is in transition. It is widely recognized that the genus as traditionally treated is a rather disparate assemblage of species, albeit closely related. Several segregate genera have been described, but as R. C. Carolin (1993) has observed, “while some are almost certainly recognizable at the generic level, the others probably less certainly.” With the current legitimate uncertainty, it is appropriate to treat Montia here in the broad, traditional sense. To do otherwise is to give the impression that we know more about the relationships of the species than is actually the case. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 4, p. 487. | FNA vol. 4, p. 485. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Portulacaceae > Montia | Portulacaceae | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Synonyms | Claytonia dichotoma, Montiastrum dichotomum | Claytoniella, Crunocallis, Limnalsine, Maxia, Mona, Montiastrum, Naiocrene, Neopaxia, Paxia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | (Nuttall) Howell: Erythea 1: 36. (1893) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 87. (1753): Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 38. (1754) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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