Petrophytum caespitosum
species of plant
Petrophytum caespitosum (orth. var. Petrophyton caespitosum) is a woody perennial species of flowering plant in the rose family known by the common name mat rock spiraea and native to western United States.
Range and Habitat
Petrophytum caespitosum is native to the Western United States where it grows in mountainous areas from the Sierra Nevada to the Rocky Mountains. It grows among limestone rocks in forested and woodland habitat and on open limestone bluffs and cliffs.
Description
Petrophytum caespitosum is a very low matted shrub growing in carpets up to 80 centimeters wide, creeping over rocks. The plant often grows on vertical surfaces and hangs by its roots, which cling to cracks in rock. The stems are thick and very short, covered densely in rosettes of oval leaves. Both surfaces of the leaves are lightly covered in short fine hairs, which may not be obvious without close inspection. It produces many inflorescences which are spikelike clusters of flowers arising on erect peduncles up to 10 centimeters tall.
The public source identifies “Petrophytum caespitosum” as species of plant. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Petrophytum, caespitosum and species.
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Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 19, 2022. The linked authority identifier is Q1909322.
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This entry incorporates text from “Petrophytum caespitosum” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.