Home Sitemap Site Index Contact About Us
|
|
Home Sitemap Site Index Contact About Us |
|
Spring Beauty Claytonia virginica Family - Portulacaceae - Purslane The Spring Beauty is one of the first wildflowers to brighten the southern Indiana hillsides in the spring. It begins to emerge in early March, its pair of line, slender leaves wending their way up through a thick carpet of leaves. Sometimes a layer of snow slows them a bit, but by early April the show begins. The Spring Beauty is a native wildflower here in Indiana, growing mainly in the woodlands, but can also sometimes be found in more open areas. It likes the moist, dark soils of the forests here best though. Growing about three to six inches tall, it can cover favorable areas with its simple beauty. It very often grows in concert with the trout lily, or dog tooth violet, since they require similar habitats. |
|
The Spring Beauty is a perennial, and it emanates from a tuber like root which
resembles a very small potato. It is edible, having a sweet flavor similar to the
chestnut. The Indians and early colonists utilized them as a food plant. The wildflower show continues for about three weeks or so, the flower finally giving way to a small, oblong capsule fruit which contains the seeds. These scatter over the ground, ensuring future generations of the Spring Beauty’s gracefull display . The name Claytonia was given to the flower by Linnaeus in honor of John Clayton, who sent him a specimen in 1757. Clayton found the flower in Virginia, thus supplying the second part of the botanical name. |
