Claytonia perfoliata

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Claytonia perfoliata
Claytonia perfoliata 6641.JPG
C. perfoliata subsp. perfoliata growing wild in Anacortes, Washington
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Montiaceae
Genus: Claytonia
Species:
C. perfoliata
Binomial name
Claytonia perfoliata
Synonyms [1]
  • Claytonia cubensisBonpl.
  • Claytonia spathulataDouglas nom. illeg.
  • Limnia angustifolia(Greene) Rydb.
  • Limnia carnosa(Greene) A. Heller ex Rydb.
  • Limnia mexicanaRydb.
  • Limnia perfoliata(Donn ex Willd.) Haw.
  • Limnia spathulata(Douglas ex Hook.) A. Heller
  • Montia mexicana(Rydb.) Pax & K. Hoffm.
  • Montia perfoliata(Donn ex Willd.) Howell
  • Montia spathulata(Douglas ex Hook.) Howell

Claytonia perfoliata, commonly known as miner's lettuce, rooreh, Indian lettuce, or winter purslane, is a flowering plant in the family Montiaceae. It is an edible, fleshy, herbaceous, annual plant native to the western mountain and coastal regions of North America.

Contents

Description

Claytonia perfoliata is a tender rosette-forming plant that grows to some 30 centimetres (12 inches) in height, [2] but mature plants can be as short as 1 cm (38 in). The cotyledons are usually bright green (rarely purplish- or brownish-green), succulent, long and narrow. The first true leaves form a rosette at the base of the plant, and are 0.5 to 4 cm (14 to 1+58 in) long, with a typically long petiole (exceptionally up to 20 cm or 8 in long).

The small pink or white flowers have five petals 2 to 6 millimetres (116 to 14 in) long. The flowers appear from February to May or June and are grouped 5–40 together. The flowers grow above a pair of leaves that are connected together around the stem so as to appear as a single circular leaf. Mature plants form a rosette; they have numerous erect to spreading stems that branch from the base.

C. perfoliata is common in the springtime, and prefers a cool, damp environment. The plant first appears in sunlit areas after the first heavy rains of the year, though the best stands are found in shaded areas, especially in the uplands, into early summer. As the days get hotter and drier, the leaves turn a deep red color as they dry out.

Taxonomy

Together with two other Claytonia species, Claytonia parviflora and C. rubra , C. perfoliata comprises what is almost certainly a polyploid pillar complex, [3] which is based on three diploid species. [4] Two key studies on the population ecology and genetics of the C. perfoliata complex were published in 2012. [3] [5]

Subspecies

There are three well-studied geographical subspecies of C. perfoliata: [4]

Other names

C. perfoliata is called 'piyada̠' in the Western Mono language and 'palsingat' in Ivilyuat two Native American languages of California [6] or 'rooreh' in (Ohlone language) [7]

Distribution and habitat

The species is native to Mexico and western north America as far north as British Columbia. [8]

It has been introduced into and is widely naturalized in western Europe, Argentina and New Zealand [8] It was introduced to Europe in the 18th century, possibly by the naturalist Archibald Menzies, who brought it to Kew Gardens in London in 1794. [9] [10] It was first recorded in the wild in Britain in South Hampshire in 1849 and is still spreading. [11] As of 2019 sightings of this plant have been found as far inland as Arkansas. [12]

Uses

Miner's lettuce served as a salad Salade de pourpier.JPG
Miner's lettuce served as a salad

The common name of miner's lettuce refers to how the plant was used by miners during the California Gold Rush, who ate it to prevent scurvy. [13] [14] [15] It is in season in April and May, and can be eaten as a leaf vegetable. [16] The entire plant is edible, except the roots, and it provides vitamin C. [17] Most commonly, it is eaten raw in salads, but it is not quite as delicate as cultivated lettuce. Sometimes, it is boiled like spinach, which it resembles in taste and chemical composition. Caution should be used because wild C. perfoliata can sometimes accumulate toxic amounts of sodium oxalate (as can happen in spinach). [18]

The plant is known as palsingat or, possibly, lahchumeek in Ivilyuat and it was eaten fresh or boiled as a green by the Ivilyuqaletem (Cahuilla) people of Southern California. It, along with Claytonia exigua , is available for gathering in the early spring. [19]

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<i>Claytonia virginica</i> Species of plant

Claytonia virginica, the Virginia springbeauty, eastern spring beauty, grass-flowernarrowleaf springbeauty or fairy spud, is an herbaceous perennial plant in the family Montiaceae. Its native range is eastern North America. Its scientific name honors Colonial Virginian botanist John Clayton (1694–1773).

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<i>Claytonia</i> Genus of flowering plants

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<i>Claytonia sibirica</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae

Claytonia sibirica is a flowering plant in the family Montiaceae, commonly known as pink purslane, candy flower, Siberian spring beauty or Siberian miner's lettuce. A synonym is Montia sibirica. It is native to Aleutian Islands and western North America and has been introduced into parts of Europe and Scandinavia.

<i>Montia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Montia is a genus of plants in the family Montiaceae. Species in this genus are known generally as miner's lettuce or water chickweed. All of the species in the genus have edible leaves. It is found worldwide, except in Asia.

<i>Claytonia lanceolata</i> Species of flowering plant

Claytonia lanceolata is a species of wildflower in the family Montiaceae, known by the common names lanceleaf springbeauty and western springbeauty.

<i>Claytonia exigua</i> Species of flowering plant

Claytonia exigua is a species of wildflower known by the common names serpentine springbeauty and pale claytonia, in the family Montiaceae.

<i>Calyptridium monospermum</i> Species of flowering plant

Calyptridium monospermum, synonym Cistanthe monosperma, is a perennial plant in the miner's lettuce family (Montiaceae), known by the common name one-seeded pussypaws. It was formerly classified in the purslane family (Portulacaceae).

<i>Claytonia megarhiza</i> Species of flowering plant

Claytonia megarhiza is a species of wildflower in the family Montiaceae known by the common names fell-fields claytonia and alpine springbeauty. The specific epithet megarhiza is Greek for "large roots".

<i>Claytonia nevadensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Claytonia nevadensis, known by the common names Sierra springbeauty and Sierra Nevada claytonia, is a species of wildflower in the family Montiaceae. The evolutionary relationship of Claytonia nevadensis to other claytonias is a subject of debate and ongoing genetic studies. Sierra springbeauties are diploid with a chromosome base number of x = 7

<i>Claytonia palustris</i> Species of flowering plant

Claytonia palustris is a species of wildflower in the family Montiaceae known by the common names Jonesville springbeauty and marsh claytonia. Often mistaken for Claytonia sibirica, the species is diploid with a chromosome base number of x = 6.

<i>Claytonia parviflora</i> Species of flowering plant

Claytonia parviflora is a species of wildflower in the family Montiaceae known by the common name Indian lettuce. It is native to western North America from southwestern Canada to northwestern Mexico, where it is found in many types of habitat, particularly areas that are moist in the spring.

<i>Claytonia rubra</i> Species of flowering plant

Claytonia rubra is a species of wildflower in the family Montiaceae known by the common names redstem springbeauty and erubescent miner's lettuce. It is native to western North America from southwestern Canada to the United States of America extending from The Black Hills and western slopes of the Rocky Mountains to the Cascade and Coast Range, Ochoco and Wallowa Mountains south to the Warner Mountains, Yolla Bolly Mountains, and Sierra Nevada and Transverse Ranges [Mt. Pinos and Mt. San Gorgonio], where it is found in coniferous forests and shrublands. This is an annual herb with stems up to about 15 centimeters long. Some individuals may overwinter as biennials. The basal leaves have small rounded to diamond-shaped blades on long, tapering petioles. There are also leaves on the stem which may be rounded or squared and sometimes fuse together to create a bowl around the stem. All the leaves possess blunt (obtuse) tips according to published descriptions and taxonomic treatments. The herbage is red or pink in color at all stages of development. The inflorescence is a dense cluster of up to 30 tiny flowers, each with petals less than 4 millimeters long and white to pink-tinted in color. Together with Claytonia perfoliata and Claytonia parviflora, Claytonia rubra comprises what is almost certainly a polyploid pillar complex based on three diploid species, each occupying a definitive ecological niche.

<i>Claytonia saxosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Claytonia saxosa, known by the common name Brandegee's springbeauty, is a species of wildflower in the family Montiaceae.

<i>Montia parvifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Montia parvifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae known by the common names little-leaf miner's lettuce, small-leaved blinks and small-leaved montia. It is native to western North America from Alaska to California to Montana, where it grows in moist to wet areas in several types of mountain habitat.

<i>Claytonia caroliniana</i> Species of flowering plant

Claytonia caroliniana, the Carolina springbeauty, is an herbaceous perennial in the family Montiaceae. It was formerly placed in the Portulacaceae. Its native range is eastern and central North America. It is most commonly found in the New England area of the United States but its habitat extends from Ontario and a northern limit in the Cape Anguille Mountains of Newfoundland and south to Alabama. It grows approximately 6 inches tall in forests of the Appalachian Mountains and piedmont

Claytonia tuberosa, commonly known as Beringian springbeauty or tuberous springbeauty, is a species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae. It is a perennial herb indigenous to Alaska, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, and the Yukon of North America, westward to East Asia–Siberia. The perennial grows from a globose tuberous root to a height of 15 centimetres (6 in) and bears several hermaphrodite white flowers on stems bearing a single pair of petiolate cauline leaves. Its closest relative is probably Claytonia virginica.

<i>Claytonia rosea</i> Species of flowering plant

Claytonia rosea, commonly called Rocky Mountain spring beauty, western springbeauty or Madrean springbeauty, is a diminutive spring blooming ephemeral plant with pale pink to magenta flowers. It grows a small round tuberous root and it one of the earliest wildflowers of spring in its range. It is found in dry meadows in forests of ponderosa and Chihuahuan pines, and moist ledges of mountain slopes of the Beaver Dam Mountains of Utah, Colorado Front Range, and Sierra Madre Occidental, south and east to the Sierra Maderas del Carmen of Coahuila.

References

  1. "The Plant List: A working list of all plant species". Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and Missouri Botanic Garden. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  2. Elias, Thomas S.; Dykeman, Peter A. (2009) [1982]. Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods. New York: Sterling. p. 95. ISBN   978-1-4027-6715-9. OCLC   244766414.
  3. 1 2 McIntyre, P. J. 2012. Cytogeography and genome size variation in the Claytonia perfoliata (Portulacaceae) polyploid complex. Annals of Botany (Oxford) 110(6): 1195-203
  4. 1 2 Miller, J. M. and K. L. Chambers. 2006. Systematics of Claytonia (Portulacaceae). Systematic Botany Monographs 78: 1-236 ISBN   0-912861-78-9
  5. McIntyre, P. J. 2012. Polyploidy associated with altered and broader ecological niches in the Claytonia perfoliata (Portulacaceae) species complex. American Journal of Botany 99(4): 655-62.
  6. "A Dictionary of Western Mono: Second Edition"
  7. "rooreh", Wiktionary, 2020-09-06, retrieved 2023-04-28
  8. 1 2 "Claytonia perfoliata Donn. ex Willd". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  9. Hank Shaw (March 7, 2011). "Foraging for Miner's Lettuce, America's Gift to Salad". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2013-04-06.
  10. Archibald Menzies (1923). Menzies' Journal of Vancouver's Voyage, April to October, 1792 [extract]. W. H. Cullin Printers. Retrieved 2013-04-07.
  11. P.A. Stroh; T. A. Humphrey; R.J. Burkmar; O.L. Pescott; D.B. Roy; K.J. Walker (eds.). "Claytonia perfoliata Donn ex Willd". BSBI Online Plant Atlas 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  12. Schneider, Adam C. (October 2019). "Claytonia Perfoliata (Montiaceae) Newly Reported In Arkansas, U.S.A." Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas. 13 (2): 495–497. doi: 10.17348/jbrit.v13.i2.806 . ISSN   1934-5259. JSTOR   26844050. S2CID   244520656.
  13. Small, Ernest (2014). North American Cornucopia: Top 100 Indigenous Food Plants. Boca Raton, Florida, USA: CRC Press. p. 697. ISBN   9781466585942.
  14. Miner's lettuce was prescribed by Rev. William Taylor in 1849 during the California gold rush: Purdy, Helen Throop (1912). San Francisco: As It Was, As It Is, And How To See It. San Francisco, California, USA: Paul Elder and Co. p. 178. ISBN   9780598280268.
  15. Rev. William Taylor's account of using miner's lettuce to treat scurvy: Taylor, William (1860). California Life Illustrated. New York, New York, USA: Carlton & Porter. pp.  230–231.
  16. Lyons, C. P. (1956). Trees, Shrubs and Flowers to Know in Washington (1st ed.). Canada: J. M. Dent & Sons. p. 106.
  17. Nyerges, Christopher (2016). Foraging Wild Edible Plants of North America: More than 150 Delicious Recipes Using Nature's Edibles. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 115. ISBN   978-1-4930-1499-6.
  18. "Miner's Lettuce". UC IPM Online. UC Davis.
  19. Bean, John Bean; Saubel, Katherine Siva (1969). Temalpakh (from the Earth): Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants. Malki Museum Press. ISBN   978-0939046249. Archived from the original on 2023-05-21. Retrieved 2021-02-19.