Lewisia maguirei is a rare species of flowering plant in the purslane family

Portulacaceae

Portulacaceae are a family of flowering plants, comprising about 20 genera with about 500 species, ranging from herbaceous plants to shrubs. The family has been recognised by most taxonomists, and is also known as the purslane family; it has a cosmopolitan distribution, with the highest diversity...

 known by the common name Maguire's lewisia, or Maguire's bitterroot. It is endemic to Nevada

Nevada

Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

 in the United States, where it is known only from eastern Nye County

Nye County, Nevada

-National protected areas:* Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge* Death Valley National Park * Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest * Spring Mountains National Recreation Area -Demographics:...

.

This is a perennial herb growing at ground level, the stem no more than 2 centimeters long. It grows from a taproot

Taproot

A taproot is an enlarged, somewhat straight to tapering plant root that grows vertically downward. It forms a center from which other roots sprout laterally.Plants with taproots are difficult to transplant...

. The fleshy lance-shaped leaves are 1 or 2 centimeters long but wither by flowering. The inflorescence

Inflorescence

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...

 contains 2 or 3 flowers. Each flower has 3 or 4 wide white or pinkish sepal

Sepal

A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...

s and up to 9 white or pink-tinged petals each roughly a centimeter long. Blooming occurs in summer.

It grows on rocky clay and limestone slopes in open pinyon-juniper woodland

Pinyon-juniper woodland

A Pinyon-juniper woodland is a forest type characteristic of many parts the Western United States, often in higher elevations of desert ecoregions.-Locations:...

 at elevations around 2240 to 2525 meters. Other plants in the habitat include desert green gentian

Frasera albomarginata

Frasera albomarginata is a species of flowering plant in the gentian family known by the common name desert green gentian, or desert frasera. It is native to the southwestern United States from eastern California to Colorado and New Mexico, where it grows in open, dry areas, such as desert woodlands...

 (Frasera albomarginata), Torrey's milkvetch (Astragalus calycosus), stemless four-nerved daisy (Tetraneuris acaulis), Nevada onion

Allium nevadense

Allium nevadense is a species of wild onion known by the common name Nevada onion. It is native to the western United States where it grows in sand and rocky soil. The Nevada onion grows from a brown or gray bulb one to one and a half centimeters wide which may have one or two daughter bulblets...

 (Allium nevadense), and rock goldenrod

Petradoria pumila

Petradoria pumila is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family, Asteraceae....

 (Petradoria pumila).

There are only 8 known occurrences of this plant, all within an eight-kilometer radius. It is threatened by poaching

Poaching

Poaching is the illegal taking of wild plants or animals contrary to local and international conservation and wildlife management laws. Violations of hunting laws and regulations are normally punishable by law and, collectively, such violations are known as poaching.It may be illegal and in...

, as it is attractive to collectors of alpine plants. Its rugged, high-elevation habitat helps to protect it from other threats.