Claytonia perfoliata
| Claytonia perfoliata | |
| Light: |    |
| Moisture: |   |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Self Pollinated | |
| Height: | 0.5' |
| Blooms: | Late Spring-Mid Summer |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Claytonia perfoliata (common name: miner's lettuce)
Propagation: Seed - sow spring or autumn in situ. The seed usually germinates rapidly.
Cultivation: Prefers a moist peaty soil[1][2]. It is often found growing wild on sandy soils[3]. An easily grown plant, it can succeed on very poor and dry soils[4][2]. Plants grow well the dappled shade of trees, producing a better quality crop in such a situation[4][2][3]. Although only an annual[5], it usually self-sows when well sited.
A very hardy plant, tolerating temperatures down to at least -15°c.
Miner's lettuce is occasionally cultivated as a salad plant[1][6]. It's main value is as a reliable producer of leaves in the winter, though it can provide leaves all year round[7][8][3]. It can be grown as a cut and come again crop[9].
Range: N. America. Naturalized in Britain.
Habitat: Disturbed and waste ground, moist banks and slopes, often in partial shade, especially on light soils[10][11]. Also found on rather dry sandy soils[12].
Edibility: Leaves - raw or cooked[13][14][15][16][4][17]. A fairly bland flavour with a mucilaginous texture, it is quite nice in a salad[9][K]. The young leaves are best[11], older leaves can turn bitter especially in the summer and if the plant is growing in a hot dry position[K]. Although individual leaves are fairly small, they are produced in abundance and are easily picked[K].
Stalks and flowers - raw[4]. A nice addition to the salad bowl[K].
Bulb - raw[14][18][17]. Although very small and labour-intensive to harvest, the boiled and peeled root has the flavour of chestnuts[19]. Another report says that the plant has a fibrous root system[17] so this report seems to be erroneous[K].
Medicinal: The leaves are gently laxative[20]. Apart from its value as a nourishing vegetable that is rich in vitamin C, it can also be taken as an invigorating spring tonic and an effective diuretic[21].
A poultice of the mashed plants has been applied to rheumatic joints[22].
Usage: Although only an annual, this species makes an excellent ground cover in a cool acid soil under trees. In such a position it usually self-sows freely[5] and grows all year round[K].
Pollinators: Flies, self
Notes: Grow it in the edible flower garden, or the bed by the road, and it will eventually find its own way into the woodland garden.
We can obtain seed.
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
In Leaf: Evergreen
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Also Known As: Claytonia perfoliata.
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Hitchcock, Leo. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press, 1955.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Phillips, Roger and Martyn Rix. Vegetables. Macmillan Reference Books, 1995.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Larkcom, Joy. Salads all the Year Round. Hamlyn, 1980.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Thomas, Graham. Plants for Ground Cover. Everyman, 1990.
- ↑ Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ Carruthers, S. Alternative Enterprises for Agriculture in the UK. Centre for Agricultural Strategy, Univ. of Reading, 1986.
- ↑ Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Harrington, Harold. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press, 1967.
- ↑ Tutin, Tom et al.. Flora Europaea. Cambridge University Press, 1964.
- ↑ Hedrick, Ulysses. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications, 1972.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Mabey, Richard. Food for Free. Collins, 1974.
- ↑ Loewenfeld, Claire and Philippa Back. Britain's Wild Larder. David and Charles.
- ↑ Vilmorin-Andrieux. The Vegetable Garden. Ten Speed Press.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Elias, Thomas. A Field Guide to North American Edible Wild Plants. Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1982.
- ↑ de Bray, Lys. The Wild Garden.
- ↑ Phillips, Roger. Herbs. Pan Books, 1990.
- ↑ Sweet, Muriel. Common Edible and Useful Plants of the West. Naturegraph Co, 1962.
- ↑ Chevallier, Andrew. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants. Dorling Kindersley, 1996.
- ↑ Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.