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A perennial from the Montiaceae family, Lewisia cotyledon is native to the mountains of northern California and southern Oregon, where it colonizes cliff crevices and well-drained rocky slopes, between 500 and 2,000 meters in altitude, on granite or serpentine substrates.
It forms a persistent, flattened, and symmetrical rosette of thick, fleshy, spatulate leaves, dark green and shiny, with slightly wavy or crisped edges — an architectural foliage that remains decorative all year round, well before and after flowering.
In spring, numerous branched stems rise from the rosette and bear generous corymbs of flowers with wide, rounded petals, traversed by more pronounced veins. The orange forms from mixed seeds offer a remarkably varied warm range: bright almost coppery orange, luminous salmon, soft apricot, pinkish peach, with a cluster of golden yellow stamens in the center that further intensifies the warmth of the whole.
In its natural habitat, its flowering extends from May to July depending on the altitude. In cultivation, it generally occurs from April to June.
Lewisia cotyledon requires perfect drainage and dreads stagnant moisture at the heart of the rosette in winter. Planting obliquely in a rock crevice or a dry stone wall remains the safest solution to ensure this natural water evacuation. Poor, well-drained substrate, neutral to slightly acidic; sunny to semi-shaded exposure.