Flora of North America species comparison

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Montia fontana

Montia chamissoi

annual water miner's-lettuce, blinks, spring water chickweed, water blinks, water chickweed, water montia

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

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

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

opposite, sessile;

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

opposite, petiolate;

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

leafy.

ebracteate.
Flowers

1–8, slightly bilateral;

sepals 1–1.5 mm;

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

stamens 3, anther pink or yellow.

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

0.7–1.2 mm, tuberculate;

elaiosome present.

1–1.5 mm, tuberculate;

elaiosome present.
2n

= 20, 40.

= 22.

Montia fontana

Montia chamissoi
Phenology Flowering spring. Flowering May–Aug.
Habitat Pools, springs, meadows, other wet or moist places Wetlands, riverbanks and streamsides from low to high elevations of coastal valleys and mountains
Elevation 0-3700 m [0-12100 ft] 500-3700 m [1600-12100 ft]
Distribution
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]
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

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.)

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. FNA vol. 4, p. 487.
Parent taxa Portulacaceae > Montia Portulacaceae > Montia
Sibling taxa
M. bostockii, M. chamissoi, M. dichotoma, M. diffusa, M. howellii, M. linearis, M. parvifolia
M. bostockii, M. dichotoma, M. diffusa, M. fontana, M. howellii, M. linearis, M. parvifolia
Synonyms Claytonia hallii, M. clara, M. funstonii, M. hallii, M. minor Claytonia chamissoi, Crunocallis chamissoi
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 87. (1753) (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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