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Claytonia virginica

Common name:	Spring Beauty	Family:	Portulacaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	43, 200, 274
Synonyms:	Claytonia grandiflora
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Eastern N. America. A garden escape, locally naturalized in Britain[17].
Habitat:	Rich woods, thickets and clearings[43]. Sandy open woods, prairies and disturbed sites in Texas[274].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Virginia Springbeauty [B,P],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Caryophyllales. Purslane family

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.15m by 0.2m . It is hardy to zone 6. It is 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 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland). It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Cultivated Beds, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge.

Edible Uses

Leaves Root.

Root - raw or cooked[2, 55, 62, 85, 257]. Rich in starch, it has a pleasant nutty flavour[105, 183]. A radish-like flavour when raw[159], it tastes like a cross between a potato and a chestnut when cooked[183]. The root is rich in vitamins A and C[159].
Leaves and flowering stems - raw or cooked[62]. Added to salads or used as greens[183]. The leaves are often available in the winter.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antispasmodic Contraceptive.

A cold infusion or decoction of the powdered roots has been given to children with convulsions[257].
It has been said that eating the raw plants can permanently prevent conception[257].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Prefers a damp peaty soil and a position in full sun[1, 164]. Another report says that it requires some shade[188]. Requires a lime-free soil[164].

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.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Winter Salads

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.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[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.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[55] Harris. B. C. Eat the Weeds. Pivot Health 1973
Interesting reading.

[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.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[159] McPherson. A. and S. Wild Food Plants of Indiana. Indiana University Press 1977 ISBN 0-253-28925-4
A nice pocket guide to this region of America.

[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.

[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.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

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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
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