Miner's Lettuce - Claytonia

David Trammel's picture

I'm always on the lookout for plants that do well in the off seasons. The leafy plant Claytonia looks interesting. Like spinach and purslane it is high in vitamin C and does well in cooler temperatures of the late Fall and early Spring.

Is Miner’s Lettuce Edible: How To Grow Claytonia Miner’s Lettuce

See also: From the Garden: Succulent and almost-meaty to eat... Claytonia is a real alternative to spinach

"It was called miner’s lettuce after the Goldrush miners who valued its high vitamin C content to ward off scurvy. 100 grams of claytonia contains a third of your daily requirement of Vitamin C, 22 percent of the Vitamin A, and 10 percent of the iron. So this little leaf packs a nutritional punch. Claytonia is succulent and almost-meaty to eat. It will also withstand cooking – so is excellent as an alternative to spinach – and it is very easy to grow. Though claytonia will grow in the spring/summer, its real value is in providing us with winter greens from October or November right up until April of the following year."

---

I'll have to pick some seeds up and see how it does.

mountainmoma's picture

It is native in my area, but I planted some and encourage an area where it self seeds and regrows every year, for many years now. Mine grows under a few fruit trees. It makes a nice salad, I never cook it. I have red russian kale in that season to cook, and the miners lettuce is so nice raw. The red russian kale will take the cold better

ClareBroommaker's picture

Plantsman Barry Glick says all species of Claytonia are edible. The one native and easy to spot in my area is Claytonia virginica, "spring beauties", or "harbinger of spring." It blooms when we still might have freezes and I have practically given myself frostbite digging it for its starchy little corms that are sometimes called "fairy spuds." one eats them boiled, then slipped out of their jackets as best as possible. Cooked, they are a little bit gluey of texture and a little bit sweet. Raw, they have a crispy snap reminiscent of water chestnuts. I guess they taste like water chestnuts, too.

Some people in my neighborhood make a point not to mow their lawn until after the spring beauties have finished blooming. They can give the lawn the appearance of a light snow, sometimes with a lavender tint. They also grow in large swaths in our city parks, which is where I have dug them, as my lawn doesn't have any. They grow very shallowly so that all you need is a trowel, sturdy knife, or even just a narrow dibble to get them up. Spring beauty corms are only as big as the end of my ring finger, so it takes a lot of digging to amount to many calories. Personally I prefer them for their beauty over their food value.

Oh, and the leaves are edible too, but very skinny, almost needle-like. The leaves are likely to be purple early, but I think they turn dark green later. As far as I can tell, spring beauties are ephemerals, going dormant shortly after they bloom. That's why they make a decent addition to an otherwise mown lawn.

David, Claytonias are in the same botanical family with the purslane that I know you already appreciate.

David Trammel's picture

"I have practically given myself frostbite digging it for its starchy little corms that are sometimes called "fairy spuds." one eats them boiled, then slipped out of their jackets as best as possible. Cooked, they are a little bit gluey of texture and a little bit sweet. Raw, they have a crispy snap reminiscent of water chestnuts. I guess they taste like water chestnuts, too."

---

Do these plants produce a under the ground tuber too? That would be so cool!

ClareBroommaker's picture

Yes, the corms are edible. I've never eaten the leaves, but only the corms. I bet mountainmoma could tell us if miner's lettuce also has edible corms.

mountainmoma's picture

I dont think it does, miners lettuce has large round succulent leaves, in good growing conditions, smaller round leaves in poor growing condions. No edible underground parts so far as I know, and I think I would have heard of it, it is well known out here

I tried to look it up, read somethings that says roots are edible, which makes sense as all parts would be edible, but so far see nothing about wether it is enough to be practical. I will check it out next January when I have some

It is best eaten before the flowers bloom as they are not as soft, but still good then too

David Trammel's picture

It seems like you two are not talking about the same thing, so I did a bit of googling to see just what a "crom" was.

The Difference Between Corms, Bulbs, Tubers, and Rhizomes

mountainmoma's picture

know that those plant parts are different, I just do not know if miners lettuce has anything like that, or just normal roots, or if it does if it would be large enough to be of any edible usefulness. I think mostly we are talking about 2 seperate plants, and I was asked if Miners lettuce has an edible corm -- My answer is I have never heard of anything eaten from it but the above ground stuff, the leaves, stem, flowers, and one place I looked it up said roots were edible, but I have never heard of anyone doing so.