Calyptridium umbellatum, synonymCistanthe 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.[5]
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.[6] 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
It 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.
C. umbellatum usually has only one inflorescence per basal rosette; the related C. monospermum generally has more than one.[7]
References
^ abThe name Cistanthe umbellata was published in Phytologia, 68(4): 268. 1990. New York. The basionym, Spraguea umbellata Torr., was first described and published in Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, 6(2): 4 (-5; t. 1). 1853. Washington, DC. "Plant Name Details for Cistanthe umbellata". IPNI. Retrieved August 18, 2010. nomenclatural synonym: Portulacaceae Spraguea umbellata Torr.
