Claytonia parviflora (Spring Beauty)

Narrowleaf Miner's Lettuce (Claytonia parviflora) is the slender cousin of common Miner's Lettuce, a charming native winter annual of West Coast woodland edges and shaded streambanks. Six to twelve inches tall, with succulent narrow leaves and tiny white flowers tinged faintly pink in spring.

Like its better-known relative, this plant is edible. The tender succulent leaves taste mild and lemony, eaten raw in spring salads or lightly cooked. Pomo and Kashaya peoples and other West Coast tribes have eaten Claytonia greens as a traditional spring food for generations, and California gold rush miners gave the genus its English name when they ate it to ward off scurvy.

Small native bees work the inconspicuous flowers. Plants self-seed reliably and disappear by midsummer, returning with the fall rains.

Native from Washington and Oregon south through California into the desert Southwest. A spring ephemeral, in and out by June, perfect for filling shaded woodland edges with quiet green and white.

Note on browsing: Tender edible foliage is grazed by deer, rabbits, and voles. Plant in protected woodland nooks or accept some browse pressure as part of the wildlife value.

Beautiful at the base of native ferns, salal, sword fern, and woodland strawberry for a self-seeding shaded ground layer.