Siberian Miner’s Lettuce – Claytonia sibirica (also called Candy Flower)
Claytonia: genus of mainly North American succulent herbs with white or pink flowers usually in terminal racemes
Siberica: from Siberia.
I have never seen regular miner’s lettuce, outside of farmer’s markets. I know it’s out there, and supposedly it’s common enough, but apparently I’m always busy looking at other things on the ground. It seems like it should be easy to find, since it has such a memorable shape (round leaf with a little white flower shooting up from the center.)
However, while I was camping on the Clackamas river over the weekend,
I found what felt like acres of Siberian Miner’s Lettuce, literally
growing in every crack and cranny of the campground. It doesn’t have the
obvious whorled leaf, but I could definitely see the resemblance to
it’s cousin. The 5-petaled flowers have little pinkish stripes on them,
giving the plant it’s nickname Candy Flower.
This cute little guy can be eaten as a spring green, like spinach. Unfortunately I didn’t bring any home with me.
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