[Montias of the Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington]
Line-leaf Montia, Lineleaf Indian Lettuce, Narrowleaf Miner's-lettuce, Narrowleaf Montia, Narrow-leaved Montia
Montia linearis
Synonym: Claytonia linearis
The photo above shows a good view of the diffuse branching form
of line-leaf montia as seen on the southeastern slopes of Mt. Adams.........mid
May 2005. Note the long, narrow leaves which generally measure from 2-5 cm long.
The
photo at right shows another view of the open form of line-leaf montia as seen
from Catherine Creek, Columbia River Gorge............April 6, 2002.
Characteristics:
Line-leaf Montia is a small annual with one to several simple
to freely branched, erect stems from 5-20 cm high. The leaves are on the stems.
They are alternate, linear, from 2-5 cm long and 0.5-1 mm wide.
The white flowers are 5 mm long in a one-sided raceme. The 5
petals are about equal in length to slightly longer than the 2 green sepals,
which range from 3-4 mm in length. It may be confused with Montia dichotoma
which has sepals to 2 mm in length and is only 2-8 cm tall.
Habitat:
Line-leaf Montia is found on seasonally moist, open soils in
the lowlands.
Range:
Line-leaf Montia may be found from southern British California
south on both sides of the Cascades to southern California and east to northern
Montana and Utah.
In the Columbia River Gorge, it may be found the length of the
gorge between the elevations of 100'-2200'.
The photo above shows a close-up of the inflorescence
of line-leaf montia from the southeastern slopes of Mt. Adams.........mid
May, 2005. Note that the petals are roughly equal to or slightly longer than
the sepals.
Lineleaf montia growing in a vernal pool with water montia (Montia fontana) at its base. Photographed at the Dancing Rock property (Friends of the Columbia Gorge) in the eastern Columbia River Gorge........March 15, 2010.
Lineleaf montia growing in moist ground along Minor Creek at the east end of Catherine Creek, Columbia River Gorge...........April 2, 2014.
Paul Slichter