Montia
Encyclopedia
Montia is a genus of plants in the purslane family, Montiaceae
. Species in this genus are known generally as miner's lettuce or minerslettuce.
Montia perfoliata, the species for which the term miner's lettuce was coined, is distributed throughout the Mountain West of North America in moist soils and prefers areas which have been recently disturbed. The species got its name due to its use as a fresh salad green by miners in the 1849 Gold Rush in California.
Some members formerly of this genus are now considered to belong in Claytonia
. The genus is being reorganized by taxonomists.
Selected species:
Montiaceae
Montiaceae is a family of flowering plants, comprising about 14 genera with some 500 species, ranging from herbaceous plants to shrubs. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution....
. Species in this genus are known generally as miner's lettuce or minerslettuce.
Montia perfoliata, the species for which the term miner's lettuce was coined, is distributed throughout the Mountain West of North America in moist soils and prefers areas which have been recently disturbed. The species got its name due to its use as a fresh salad green by miners in the 1849 Gold Rush in California.
Some members formerly of this genus are now considered to belong in Claytonia
Claytonia
Claytonia is a genus of 26 species of flowering plants in the family Montiaceae, primarily native to North America, with a few species extending south to Guatemala in Central America, and northwest to northeastern Asia....
. The genus is being reorganized by taxonomists.
Selected species:
- Montia bostockii - Bostock's miner's lettuce
- Montia chamissoiMontia chamissoiMontia chamissoi is a species of flowering plant in the purslane family known by the common names toad lily and water miner's lettuce. It is native to much of western North America from Alaska to the southwestern and central United States, where it grows in moist to wet soils in a variety of...
- water miner's lettuce, toadlily - Montia dichotoma - dwarf miner's lettuce
- Montia diffusaMontia diffusaMontia diffusa is a species of flowering plant in the purslane family known by the common names branching montia and spreading miner's lettuce. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to northern California, where it occurs mainly west of Cascade Range crest...
- spreading miner's lettuce, branching montia - Montia fontanaMontia fontanaMontia fontana, commonly known as blinks or water-blinks, water chickweed or annual water miner's lettuce, is a herbaceous annual plant of the genus Montia. It is a common plant that can be found in wet environments across the globe, from the tropics to the Arctic. It is quite variable in...
- annual water miner's lettuce, water-blinks - Montia howelliiMontia howelliiMontia howellii is a species of flowering plant in the purslane family known by the common name Howell's miner's lettuce. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to northern California, where it grows in moist to wet habitat, including vernal pools and meadows...
- Howell's miner's lettuce - Montia linearisMontia linearisMontia linearis is a species of flowering plant in the purslane family known by the common name narrowleaf miner's lettuce. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California to Utah, where it grows in moist to wet areas in a number of habitat types, including forests and...
- narrowleaf miner's lettuce - Montia parvifoliaMontia parvifoliaMontia parvifolia is a species of flowering plant in the purslane family known by the common name littleleaf miner's lettuce. It is native to western North America from Alaska to California to Montana, where it grows in moist to wet areas in several typs of mountain habitat.-Description:Montia...
- littleleaf miner's lettuce