Authors: Howell   Donn  

Botanical Description

Claytonia perfoliata). Rosette-forming annual to 20cm or more in height. Leaves long-stalked, ovate to broadly so, bright green and fleshy, edible (Miners' Lettuce). Flowers white, 6-10mm across, in a short raceme borne in the centre of a shallowly funnel to discshaped, leaf-like bract, the overall effect being rather like a miniature posy, late spring to summer. Lower California to British Columbia in scrub and woodland moist during the winter and spring. The best plants result from an early autumn sowing. Can be invasive where there is open soil to colonise. In the wild there are plants with linear to oblanceolate leaves (forma parviflora and forma angustifolia), some also with glaucous leaves (forma glauca).