E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Claytonia rubra (Howell) Tidestr. subsp. rubra
redstem springbeauty
Montiaceae (Purslane family)
(Previously in Portulacaceae)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Carla Davis  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #29078)

E-Flora BC Static Map
Distribution of Claytonia rubra subsp. rubra
Click here to view our interactive map and legend
Details about map content are available here
Click on the map dots to view record details.

Species Information

Click on the image below to view an expanded illustration for this species.



General:
Annual herb from a slender taproot; stems ascending to erect, simple, several, red or green, 1-15 cm tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves usually many, prostrate to spreading, smaller inward, elliptic, the blades 0.5-2 cm long, the bases tapered abruptly or squared off, the stalks 1-6 cm long; stem leaves paired, opposite, usually unequally fused, less than 4 cm wide.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of whorled racemes with 3-30 unstalked or stalked flowers, with one bract subtending the lowest flower; flower stalks red or green; petals 5, white or pinkish, 2-3.5 mm long; sepals 2, 1.5-3 mm long.
Fruits:
Capsules; seeds 3, round to egg-shaped, black, shiny, smooth (at 20x magnification), the ap pendages white, fleshy, 1.5-3 mm long.
Notes:
See comments under C. parviflora. Two closely related subspecies occur in our region:

1. Basal leaf blades widely elliptic to egg-shaped, the bases abruptly tapered; inflorescence more or less unstalked; only leaf stalks often red................ ssp. depressa (A. Gray) J. Miller & Chambers

1. Basal leaf blades diamond- or triangular-shaped, the bases squared off; inflorescence more or less stalked; plants and leaf stalks often red................... ssp. rubra

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Moist to dry sand dunes, meadows, open forests and rock outcrops in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; rare on SE Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and the lower mainland (ssp. depressa), frequent in SC BC (ssp. rubra); S to SD, CO and CA.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Claytonia rubra ssp. rubra

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)

Site Information
Value / Class

Minimum

Average

Maximum

Elevation (metres) 668 817 1037
Slope Gradient (%) 21 44 78
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]
128 179 219
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
1 1 2
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
C
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:
7
Modal BEC Zone Class
IDF
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: ICH(3), IDF(4)

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References