Calyptridium umbellatum
Plant species in the springbeauty family
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Calyptridium umbellatum, synonym Cistanthe umbellata, is a species of flowering plant in the montia family known by the common name Mount Hood pussypaws or — especially outside the Pacific Northwest — simply pussy-paws.[3]
| Mount Hood pussypaws | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Embryophytes |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Montiaceae |
| Genus: | Calyptridium |
| Species: | C. umbellatum |
| Binomial name | |
| Calyptridium umbellatum | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
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List
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Range
Calyptridium umbellatum is native to western North America from British Columbia to California to Colorado, where it grows in a number of habitat types, including areas inhospitable to many other plant types, such as those with alpine climates.
A small subgroup of C. umbellatum are located in the Zayante Sandhills, a biological island in the Santa Cruz Mountains.[4] These individuals reside on a singular hill in the entirety of the sandhills, and their frail petals and loose seeds allow for easy wind dispersal.
Habit
Calyptridium umbellatum is a perennial herb forming generally two or more basal rosettes of thick, spoon-shaped leaves each a few centimeters long. The inflorescence arises from the rosette, a dense, spherical umbel of rounded sepals and four small petals.
It usually has only one inflorescence per basal rosette; the related C. monospermum generally has more than one.[5]
