Claytonia virginica L.
Virginia spring-beauty, spring beauty
Virginia spring beauty is native to North America.
Plants: 3–9″ (7.6–22 cm) tall, poking hopefully out of the forest litter in the spring.
Leaves: Narrow and grasslike in shape, technically linear to lanceolate. They have a leathery texture, but at a size of about 1½ ⨉ ¼″ (3.8 cm ⨉ 6.3 mm), they are easy to miss.
Flowers: Stems support a few flowers, each ¼–½″ (7–14 mm) around, drooping when the flowers are closed. Each pale pink or white flower has five rounded petals, and beautiful pink veins, though sometimes the veins are very faint. Blooms appear in April.
Fruits: Seeds are shiny black, 1/16–⅛″ (2–3 mm) in diameter.
Habitats: Dry open woods, prairies, glades.
Edibility: The tubers, roots that resemble small potatoes, are up to 8″ (20 cm) in diameter. Their flavor is variously described as nutty, radish-like when raw, or like a potato and a chestnut when cooked (see Plants for a Future).
Online References:
5/26/2024 · McLaughlin Garden and Homestead, South Paris, Maine 
5/26/2024 · McLaughlin Garden and Homestead, South Paris, Maine 
3/19/2012 · Gunpowder Falls State Park, Cockeysville, Maryland · ≈ 3½ × 3″ (8.6 × 7.9 cm) 
ID is uncertain 
4/6/2012 · North Central Railroad Trail, Sparks, Maryland · ≈ 4½ × 4½″ (11 × 11 cm) ID is uncertain 
4/8/2012 · North Central Railroad Trail, Monkton Rd, Sparks, Maryland · ≈ 4 × 3″ (9.9 × 8.1 cm) ID is uncertain 
4/6/2012 · North Central Railroad Trail, Sparks, Maryland · ≈ 4 × 4½″ (10 × 11 cm) ID is uncertain 
(Foliage is from other plants) · 4/6/2012 · North Central Railroad Trail, Sparks, Maryland · ≈ 6 × 6″ (14 × 14 cm) ID is uncertain 
5/16/2014 · Acton Arboretum, Action, Massachusetts · ≈ 3 × 3½″ (8.2 × 9.6 cm) 
4/6/2012 · North Central Railroad Trail, Sparks, Maryland · ≈ 2½ × 2″ (6.8 × 5.7 cm) ID is uncertain 
5/16/2014 · Acton Arboretum, Action, Massachusetts · ≈ 4½ × 6″ (11 × 15 cm) 
3/31/2011 · Memphis, Tennessee · By Tim Chandler ID is uncertain 
4/24/2021 · Mt. Willard Trail, Harts Location, New Hampshire · By Heather A. Kent 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Caryophyllidae | Cacti, many other succulents, carnivorous plants, and leadworts |
| Order | Caryophyllales | Includes cacti, carnations, amaranths, ice plants, and many carnivorous plants |
| Family | Portulacaceae | The purslane family, including mostly succulent plants such as portulaca |
| Genus | Claytonia | Named for John Clayton, a Virginia court clerk and plant collector who amassed one of the most important botanical sample collections known |
| Species | virginica | “From Virginia” |
Claytonia virginica description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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