Claytonia.

Major entries:
Claytonia perfoliata Donn. Cuban Spinach.

Claytonia caroliniana Michx. Portulaceae.

Eastern United States. This plant has edible bulbs much prized by Indians.

Claytonia exigua Torr. & Gray.

California. The succulent leaves are in popular use as a potherb in California.

Claytonia megarrhiza Parry.

Western North America. This plant has a long, fleshy taproot but it is confined to the summits of the Rocky Mountains and is seldom available.

Claytonia perfoliata Donn. Cuban Spinach.

North America. This species, according to Robinson,10 is cultivated in France as a salad plant. The foliage is used in England, according to Loudon, as a spinach. De Candolle says it is occasionally cultivated there. C. perfoliata of Cuba is an annual employed as a spinach in France in place of purslane. It was first described in 1794 but in 1829 was not named by Noisette for French gardens; in 1855 it was said by De Candolle to be occasionally cultivated as a vegetable in England. It is now included by Vilmorin among French vegetables.

Claytonia sibirica Linn. Siberian Purslane.

Northern Asia and northwestern North America. This species is eaten both raw and cooked by the Indians of Alaska.

Claytonia tuberosa Pall.

Kamchatka and eastern Siberia. The tubers are edible.

Claytonia virginica Linn. Spring Beauty.

Eastern United States. This species has edible bulbs, much prized by the Indians.


Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World, 1919, was edited by U. P. Hedrick.