Hansen's Northwest Native Plant Database


Lewisia columbiana var. columbiana (Lewisia)

 

Kingdom

 Plantae – Plants

Subkingdom

 Tracheobionta – Vascular plants

Superdivision

 Spermatophyta – Seed plants

Division

 Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants

Class

 Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons

Subclass

 Caryophyllidae

Order

 Caryophyllales

Family

 Portulacaceae – Purslane family

Genus

 Lewisia Pursh – lewisia

Species

 Lewisia columbiana (Howell ex A. Gray) B.L. Rob. – Columbian lewisia

Variety

 Lewisia columbiana (Howell ex A. Gray) B.L. Rob. var. columbiana – Columbian lewisia

Note: Throughout the years I've written short articles for our website's home pages (home pages are the front page of a website) about these plants. They are now included at the bottom of this page, and are illustrated by botanical drawings and paintings, some of which are from books published from 1500 - 1900.

A showy succulent plant, this Lewisia is ideal for the rock garden.

Rosettes grow to 8" wide.

Flowers appear on the ends of the many 2-12” stems and are candy-stripped pink.

Very hardy and easy to grow, Lewisia grows in sand and gravel in full sun at mid- to high elevations along the Pacific Northwest, doing especially well on the drier, eastern side of the Cascades, USDA 4-8.

       

From Homepage April 30, 2004

Lewisia is a rock garden star that fairly shouts "Fiesta!" with it's vibrant clusters of blooms in shades of pink, yellow, salmon, gold and white. The leaves form a tidy rosette up to 8 inches wide and are the base from which the stems arise to culminate in gaily striped flowers.

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo--plant some Lewisia in your yard or take some to your favorite Mom. She'll love the easy care and generous bloom of this fine northwest native perennial.

We cover six different Lewisias: the columbiana variety and other columbianas rupicola (Columbian) and wallowensis (Wallowa), l. colyedon (Cliff Maids), l. leana (Lee's), and l. tweedyi (Tweedy's). All our Lewisia's occur in the wild in sand and gravel, up the sides of high desert peaks and other dry areas where one would expect only tumbleweeds. Hardy in USDA zones from 3 to 8, they'll thrive on neglect as long as they have good drainage. They'll self-compost if forced to stand in water.

The plant pictured above is a wonderful specimen I picked up at the nursery several years ago. I forgot all about it, never watering or paying the slightest bit of attention to it. It waited patiently for me all through the summer heat and winter snow. When I came upon finally, it fair took my breath away. What a delightful "good morning" surprise!

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Contact:  star@chillirose.com ~ Copyright 2012 © Wallace W. Hansen ~ All rights reserved