Miner's Lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata) Login         


        Description
  • Varies in height from 1 inch to 16 inches.
  • CA Bloom Feb - May
  • Look for small white flowers above a circular leaf.
  • It's abundant in moist shady places, especially under redwoods.
  • The leaves are edible, and were eaten by early miners.
  • CA native
  • AKA Rooreh
  • Pussypaws Family (Montiaceae)



A cluster of small white flowers emerge from the center of a leaf that surrounds the stem.



Basal leaves are long and thin, with a diamond shape at the end. Several stems emerge from the base.


Two fleshy leaves near the top of each stem fuse to make a circle.

   Photo Gallery (75 ) click any picture to enlarge
    

Mature Miner's Lettuce has two kinds of leaves: [[Basal]] leaves have a spatula-shaped [[blade]] at the end of a long stalk. In addition, two fl ...
Miner's Lettuce does well in cool damp environments. It is found from Alaska to Central America, but is most common in California.
As leaves dry out they turn a deep red color.
Up to 40 small flowers emerge from green [[sepals]] in a cluster above the round leaf. A single [[bract]], leaf-like but much smaller than the roun ...
Flowers are small, 1/4" to 1/2" across.
These small delicate flowers are beautiful. Each has 5 separate white petals, sometimes with pink markings. It has 5 pink-tipped [[stamens]] and ...