PlantFiles: Spring Beauty, Miner's Lettuce
Claytonia perfoliata

We thought it was a weed and starting yanking 'em out of the ground. Our neighbor theorized that it was edible so we did the research. This "weed" was miner's lettuce. We harvested it with a pair of scissors and added it (washed) to our salads...flower and all! As the weather warmed up the lettuce in the yard began to wilt & brown. We hope we get some next winter/spring.

This lovely little plant springs up everywhere in the early spring. Native Americans in this area were said to have especially favored it when it grew near an ant hill. The hint of formic acid left on the leaves by ants was an ancient version of vinaigrette! Yesterday a covey of six quail had quite a feast on the seeds of the miner's lettuce growing in the cracks of our flagstone patio. When the rains stop it will be gone until next year.

Absolutely our favorite salad additive

This is a native edible that I learned to identify when I was young. It makes a wonderful salad, like a cross between butter lettuce and spinach. I've never tried cooking it since it's great fresh.

I acquired mine in 2000 from a friend who was rooting it out of his yard up in the redwood-forested hills. Since it grows well under redwoods I theorized that it might be able to survive on the blighted area under the black walnut tree, and I was correct.

It dies back every winter and returns anew the next year. I've been assuming it was self-seeding. The flowers produce a quantity of small black seeds.

This plant is good to eat, both tops and bottom. The tops are good raw as a lettuce substitute or salad ingredient, while the roots are used like a water chestnut (although small and lots of work to peel and boil.) Miner's Lettuce grows mostly in the western US. I have found it growing naturally on moist spots or drainages on dry sandy slopes and beside roads in the borrow pits, mainly in damp places. Its common name refers to its use by miners to prevent scurvy; when no fruit was available, this plant is a source of Vitamin C.