Thursday 14 February 2013

LEWISIA COTYLEDON

Lewisia cotyledon is a species of flowering plant in the purslane family (Portulacaceae) known by the common names Siskiyou lewisia and cliff maids. It is native to southern Oregon and northern California, where it grows in rocky subalpine mountain habitat. It is an evergreen perennial growing from a thick taproot and caudex unit. It produces a basal rosette of many thick, fleshy oval- or spoon-shaped leaves up to 9 cm long. The Greek cotyledon ("shaped like a small cup", from kotulē ‘cup’) refers to the shape of the leaves.

Flowering from spring to summer, the inflorescence arises on one or more stems 10–30 cm tall, each stem bearing an array of up to 50 flowers. Near the flowers are small, pointed bracts tipped with resin glands. The flower has 7 to 13 petals, each about 1.5 centimeters long. The petals may be pale pink with darker veining, whitish with pinkish orange striping, or solid orange to yellow.This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

This post is part of the Floral Friday meme.


8 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing your beautiful Lewisia pictures!!
    In our garden it has evergreen foliage,
    can be grown in USDA zones 3 through 8.
    But needs care!!
    Lewisias tolerate partial sun but prefer full sun.
    Lewisias prefer stony ground & rocky crevices; by growing from crevices it can keep its thick roots cool while holding its leaves and blossoms to bright sun.
    It is a little delicate in the garden only if it stays at all moist, as without sufficient drainage it will almost certainly rot in winter.

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  2. These are beautiful little flowers. Happy Valentine's Day.

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  3. Lovely Lewsiaphotos. We can grow them here too, but they don't last so many years.

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  4. Like the softness of the colour much.
    Please have a good Friday.

    robert geiß

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  5. I adore little dainty blooms like this. Lovely!!

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  6. Gorgeous! I love the shape of the flower. I haven't seen these before.

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