Montia linearis (Dougl. ex Hook.) Greene
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TAXONOMY
 
Family: Portulacaceae
Genus: Montia
 
Species Synonyms: Claytonia linearis Dougl. ex Hook.
Montiastrum lineare (Dougl. ex Hook.) Rydb.
Common Names: narrowleaf minerslettuce
linear-leaved springbeauty
candy-flower
 
DISTRIBUTION
 
Canada: southern British Columbia – southwestern Alberta, southwestern Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan: southwestern Saskatchewan; Cypress Hills
Ecoregion: Cypress Upland
 
HABITAT
 
Saskatchewan: moist springy pool margins and grasslands
Canada: moist to dry sandy places in lowland valleys and foothills
 
RARITY STATUS
 
Provincial Status According
to Harms (2003):
Endangered
Nature Conservancy Status:
G5 S1
Saskatchewan Species at
Risk Status:
None
COSEWIC Status:
None
 
Montia linearis is endangered because of extreme rarity in Saskatchewan. It is regionally restricted to the southwestern corner of the province. No immediate threats are known but may occur in the future.
 
SPECIES DESCRIPTION
 
Height: 5 – 30 cm
Roots: roots fibrous, slender; rhizomes, stolons and bulbs absent
Stems: erect, branched near the base or simple
Leaves: alternate, erect, leaf sheaths clasping, 1 – 4 cm long, 1 – 4 mm wide, linear or filiform, scarious at the base
Inflorescence: racemes several, terminal, secund, loosely 2 – 8-flowered, pedicels recurved; bracts 1, linear to oblanceolate
Flowers: calyx 3 – 7 mm; petals 5, 4 – 6 mm, white to pale pinkish; stamens 3 – 5
Fruits: capsule; seeds black, shiny, tuberculate, elaiosome absent
 
PORTULACACEAE KEY FOR GENERA FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN
 
1 Stems prostrate; flowers yellow; ovary inferior to half-inferior
Portulaca
1 Stems erect; flowers white to pink or yellow; ovary superior
2
   
2 Roots fibrous, rhizome present or absent; cauline leaves several; stems branched
Montia
2 Taproot, tuber may be present; cauline leaves 2; stems unbranched
Claytonia