Menu list goes here

Herbal Database Search Results

Back to: Pathways Main Search Page For Metaphysical uses visit The Witchs Haven

Claytonia megarhiza

Common name:	Alpine Spring Beauty	Family:	Portulacaceae
Author:	(Gray.)Parry.	Botanical references:	60, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Western N. America - Washington and southwards.
Habitat:	Gravelly soils, rock crevices and high montane regions[60].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	C. megarrhiza[HORTIPLEX]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Alpine Springbeauty [B,P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	megarhiza = large root
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Caryophyllales. Purslane family

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen perennial growing to 0.15m by 0.1m . It is hardy to zone 4. It is in leaf all year, in flower in March, and the seeds ripen in May. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Flowers Leaves Root.

Root - raw or cooked[2, 62, 85, 161]. Peeled, then boiled or baked[183]. The root is long, fleshy and up to 2.5cm thick[183, 200].
Leaves and flowering tops - raw or cooked as a potherb[85, 172, 183]. Succulent, juicy and mild in flavour[183].
Flowers - raw.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Prefers a damp peaty soil and a position in full sun[1, 164]. Requires a very well-drained lime-free soil[164, 200].
A very cold hardy plant, succeeding outdoors in all parts of Britain, but it is liable to rot if the soil is wet[60, 200]. A good plant for the rock garden[60].
Plants are prone to aphis infestation[188].

Propagation

Seed - surface sow on a peat based compost in spring in a cold frame. Germination usually takes place within 2 - 4 weeks at 10° c[164]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the cold frame for at least their first winter. Plant them out in late spring or early summer after the last expected frosts.
Division of offsets in spring or autumn.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A& M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

References for Claytonia megarrhiza (a possible synonym).

[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Portulacaceae.

[CHINA] Draft Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[60] Hitchcock. C. L. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press 1955
A standard flora for Western N. America with lots of information on habitat etc. Five large volumes, it is not for the casual reader.

[62] Elias. T. and Dykeman. P. A Field Guide to N. American Edible Wild Plants. Van Nostrand Reinhold 1982 ISBN 0442222009
Very readable.

[85] Harrington. H. D. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press 1967 ISBN 0-8623-0343-9
A superb book. Very readable, it gives the results of the authors experiments with native edible plants.

[161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.
A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.

[164] Bird. R. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 4. Thompson and Morgan. 1990
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. A good article on Yuccas, one on Sagebrush (Artemesia spp) and another on Chaerophyllum bulbosum.

[172] Schofield. J. J. Discovering Wild Plants - Alaska, W. Canada and the Northwest.
A nice guide to some useful plants in that area.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

Readers Comments

Back to: Pathways Home page, Main Search Page Help Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Claytonia+megarhiza
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Claytonia+megarhiza

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
(You can copy, distribute, display this works but: Attribution is required, its for Non-Commercial purposes, and it's Share Alike (GNUish/copyleft) i.e. has an identical license.)
We also ask that you let us know (michael@thewitchshaven.com) if you link to, redistribute, make a derived work or do anything groovy with this information.

Pathways Home :: View Cart :: Shipping & Returns :: Contact Us :: Privacy Policy :: Philosophy :: The Witchs Haven

We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.