Mount Hood pussypaws facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mount Hood pussypaws |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Calyptridium
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| Species: |
umbellatum
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The Mount Hood pussypaws is a cool flowering plant. Its scientific name is Calyptridium umbellatum, but sometimes people call it Cistanthe umbellata. It's also known simply as "pussy-paws," especially outside the Pacific Northwest. This plant gets its fun name because its flower clusters look a bit like a cat's soft paw! It belongs to a plant family called Montiaceae.
Where It Grows
The Mount Hood pussypaws plant naturally grows in western North America. You can find it from British Columbia in Canada all the way down to California and over to Colorado in the United States.
This plant is super tough! It can grow in many different places, even in areas where other plants struggle. This includes places with a very cold alpine climate, like high up in the mountains.
Special Places
A small group of these plants lives in a unique area called the Zayante Sandhills. This place is like a tiny island of sand within the Santa Cruz Mountains. These special pussypaws plants live on just one hill in the entire sandhills area. Their delicate petals and light seeds can easily be carried by the wind, helping them spread around their small home.
What It Looks Like
The Mount Hood pussypaws is a perennial plant. This means it lives for more than two years. It usually grows two or more groups of leaves close to the ground. These leaves are thick and shaped like spoons, each a few centimeters long.
From the center of these leaf groups, a flower stalk grows up. At the top of the stalk is a dense, round cluster of flowers. This cluster is called an umbel. It has rounded sepals (which are like small leaves that protect the flower bud) and four tiny petals.
Usually, each group of leaves on a Mount Hood pussypaws plant will only grow one flower cluster. A plant related to it, called Calyptridium monospermum, usually grows more than one flower cluster from each leaf group.
