Claytoniaspp.
As a adolescent out on a rise on a cloudy March Clarence Day , I came across a plant that had strange round leaves , each with a bow sticking right through the middle and a flyspeck white efflorescence at the top . I was out hunting for ghost township , but I ’d found something much more exciting .
I ’d see about the legendary “ miner ’s bread , ” a plant that prospectors carry with them into the gold mine during the day of the gold spate in western North America to help them avoid scorbutus .
Now , let ’s be clear . While we do n’t have any clear records to confirm as much , I ’d bet my last buck that these laborers learned about the works from the aboriginal the great unwashed inhabiting the surface area .
Hydrocotyle vulgaris, aka pennywort.
We join to vendor to assist you obtain relevant products . If you buy from one of our links , we may earn a deputation .
Native people had been eating the plants for century before prospectors get down tunneling into the ground .
Anyway , here I was , a teenager count at those legendary greens , and I was so mad that my companions wondered if I had unwrap genuine amber . In my mind , it was even better .
Hydrocotyle vulgaris, aka pennywort.
The typical leaves made it easy to identify my first forage special K . I crunch tentatively on a few leaves , and I instantly had the foraging bug .
I enjoyed them so much , and since I could n’t always count on finding them in my suburban neighbourhood , I figured I ’d need to grow my own .
reduce to a few years afterward and me solicit my mammy to stop draw up the seedling I ’d sneakily planted among her ornamentals . She insisted they were weeds , but I knew intimately .
Now that I ’m an adult with my own garden , I can and do develop this works every winter and spring in my garden , and twelvemonth - stave as microgreens on my windowsill .
If you ’re look for an unbiased account of miner ’s simoleons , I ca n’t give you that . I ’m unabashedly a rooter . But if you need to learn how to grow and care for this delectable cat valium , look no further .
I ’ll also help you figure out how to forage them if you ’re a budding forager like I was .
Here ’s what we ’re going to chat about :
What You’ll Learn
The faster we get bulge out , the salutary , because my mouth is watering just think about the leave .
What Is Miner’s Lettuce?
Claytonia(formerlyMontia ) metal money are also acknowledge as outflow beauties , while the “ miner ’s lettuce ” term is book for several species that grow in western North America , a few of which are super rough-cut and others which you might only rarely trip up across .
These metal money are all part of the Montiaceae family , but were formerly sort out in the purslane family line , Portulacaceae . They are closely related to the succulent plants in theLewisiagenus .
C. perfoliata , also known as usual miner ’s lettuce or winter purslane , is line up produce wild across westerly North America .
The subspeciesperfoliatais establish in the Pacific Northwest and northern California , while the subspeciesintermontanagrows wild in the interior regions as far west as the Rockies . Subspeciesmexicanahails from southern California and Mexico and as far east as Arizona .
This specie has even hop over the Rocky Mountains and grows in areas where it is n’t native , including Arkansas .
Perhaps the most celebrated characteristic of these plants are the leaves . It looks like the heyday stalk has punch through the center of the leaf , which is actually comprised of two leave that have combine together . This character of ontogenesis is have a go at it as beingperfoliate , hence the species name .
The leaves can be orbicular ( round ) or rhombic ( square ) , and they grow at the end of long petiole .
The youthful leaves are oval-shaped , and transition to cordate ( heart - shaped ) , before assume on their final kind .
diminutive white or pale pinkish blossom emerge in late bounce or other summertime . The works can reach up to a understructure tall in idealistic conditions but will stay unforesightful if planted in heavy soil or shade .
describe the mature miner ’s lettuce is much easier than the younger plants , so stick to foraging the mature plant if you ’re new to the game . Look for those dish antenna - like leaves with the flower stem growing out of the middle .
The only lookalike is buck weed , aka water pennywort ( Hydrocotylespp . ) , but the flowers grow on freestanding shuck , not through the middle of the leaves .
Siberian mineworker ’s lettuce ( C. sibirica ) is found on island in the Bering Strait and from Alaska to the Santa Cruz mountains of California .
The flowers have five flower petal that are white or pink with dark pink stripe . They appear on the plant as early as February , depend on the area , and can continue until the fall .
The glossy , veinlike leaf are lancelike when young , which means they ’re long and narrow with a slight solar flare in the middle . Once they mature , they become deltate or triangular , with two leave per radical . The leaves of this coinage do not fuse as they do in the font ofC. perfoliata .
This one is a footling grueling to discover because it has a few lookalikes , the most mutual being carmine campion ( Silene dioica ) when it ’s untested and not in flower .
C. sibiricais more common in the wild in its native range . But both coinage are found in most damp , jolly shady region . It does n’t weigh if it ’s a woodland , a plain , or disturbed site , if it ’s moist , miner ’s lettuce is moving in .
I grab it from the abandoned roadside and next to riverbeds near my household .
Bees , butterflies , moth , and other pollinator love these plants , and the birds will feed the leaf and seed , as will small mammalian .
In spicy , dry weather , the plant dry up and goes torpid until the winter .
A few other species are sometimes cultivated or foraged , but they are n’t nearly as common as the mintage describe above . They ’re all edible to some degree , though the two mentioned above are the tastiest .
In western North America , C. lanceolatahas fleshy , strappy leaves and count more like a desert succulent than a herbaceous green .
Another western native , C. parviflora , known by the outdated moniker of Amerind lettuce , looks well-nigh identical toC. perfoliata , but it grows in siccative , warmer areas .
C. rubra , or erubescent miner ’s lettuce , looks similar toC. perfoliatabut has crimson foliage .
Marsh claytonia , C. palustris , looks closely indistinguishable toC. sibirica .
On the eastern side of the Rockies , easterly spring beauty , C. virginica , grows in the easterly one-half of North America and has similar flowers to Siberian mineworker ’s lettuce , but the leaves are long and strappy .
Also growing in eastern North America , C. caroliniana , or Carolina springbeauty or spring knockout , look extremely standardized toC. sibiricaand maturate in similar experimental condition . The leaves are just as flavorful , with the added bonus that you could corrode the tuberous theme as you would a potato .
While we ’re on the topic , all parts of theClaytoniaspecies mentioned here are edible , with some species , likeC. carolinianaandC. tuberosahaving big , tuberous root that are quite tasty . These plants are full of vitamin C , protein , iron , and beta - carotene .
The nameClaytoniapays court to botanist John Clayton , who collected many plant specimens in the 1700s .
Cultivation and History
The story of plant migration in North America has a distinctive pattern .
Europeans brought plant to North America that they ’d collected at home or from countries they ’d explore , such as China or India , and those works gradually naturalized in their new location . In some shell , these mintage became a out-and-out menace .
But only a few North American aboriginal species grapple to prove special enough to make the trip in the opposite focusing , from North America to Europe , to become a common wild and garden plant rather than just a specimen in a museum . Miner ’s lettuce is one of those plants .
Miner ’s lettuce was brought by European explorers back to Europe and has since been innovate to other surface area like Argentina , Cuba , Australia , and New Zealand , where it has naturalize .
Scottish naturalist Archibald Menzies normally gets the credit for bringing the plant to the UK during the 1700s , and that ’s probably a good guess , since he was well - known for collecting all kinds of species .
It ’s potential that he bring some miner ’s lettuce on his ships to keep his crew healthy . He eventually presented some plants to the Royal Botanical Garden at Kew in 1794 .
From there , plate agriculturalist became interested in the flora and get down growing it in their home base gardens .
It became such a vital crop that it ’s credit with maintain soldier healthy in the UK during WWII .
Back in its native home , people such as the Kawaiisu , Diegueno , Costanoan , and Mendocino ate the works , and many kindred usedC. perfoliataas an appetite restorer , middle medicinal drug , and for arthritic pain . C. sibiricawas used as a hair wash , heart treatment , and for relieving mad throats .
Miner’s Lettuce Propagation
The vast majority of us will grow miner ’s lettuce from seed , but if you know where a patch is growing , you’re able to split up some of the plants and put them in your garden , so long as it ’s legal to do so .
Let ’s start with the most coarse method .
From Seed
When sourcing seeds , look for reputable sellers . Some sphere have been impoverish of this lovely ephemeron because of overharvesting by commercial-grade seminal fluid sellers .
Similarly , if you are scrounge , make certain you leave enough behind so the industrial plant can replenish itself .
Miner ’s lettuce seeds germinate well in coolheaded condition when the soil is between 50 and 65 ° F . you may lead seed outdoors whenever the soil is between these temperatures , orstart seed indoors .
The seeded player will burgeon forth in cool dirt , but they will take longer to germinate or continue dormant until temperature increase .
Where I live , the plants emerge from the ground in the winter when the soil is around 40 ° degree Fahrenheit or a bit below – so as long as the grunge can be forge and it is n’t too squashy , you should be o.k. .
Work some well - rotted compost into the grunge if your soil is somewhat sandlike or Lucius DuBignon Clay .
Sow the seed half an inch bass and either disperse them or space them about an in apart . A shallow come tray works well indoors or you may sow straight outside .
As the ejaculate bourgeon , which go on speedily – unremarkably within a week in ideal temperatures – dilute the seedling to about four inch apart once they ’re about an inch tall . Eat the babe greens , do n’t waste them .
Give the developing seedling about six hours of light per sidereal day , whether that ’s sunlight or indoors withsupplemental light .
Keep sowing every few weeks for a sequent harvest .
If you started the plants indoors , await until they have developed at least two true foliage and then harden them off for a week before putting them in the ground .
If you ’ve never hardened works off before , the process is unsubdivided .
Take the seedlings to the location where you ’re going to transplant them and leave them there for an time of day . Bring them back inside . The next day , add an hour . Keep doing this each day for a week .
By Division
If you have access to a clump of live miner ’s lettuce plants , division is an prosperous process and a reliable way to distribute new plant .
Remember , know your local law when foraging , and always require permit of attribute owners before taking anything .
To split up , take a trowel and dig out a section of the industrial plant .
It does n’t count how big of a section you take since each stem is an single plant , but attempt to get at least a few halt to ensure enough live the move to start a new thumping .
You do n’t need a wide security deposit , but dig down deep enough to get all the roots .
Keep the soil around the roots moist as you move the division to its newfangled orbit , if necessary .
Dig a kettle of fish in the ground that is the same size of it as the stem chunk you dig up , and point the plant in the hole , and backfill with territory . piddle well .
Transplanting
I ’ve never seen miner ’s lettuce glasshouse starts for sale , but that does n’t imply that there are n’t a few marketer out there offering them up .
If you ascertain some , or if you want to transplant your own seedlings that you started inside , the process is the same .
study somewell - rotted compostinto the earth where you intend to plant unless your stain is already loamy .
Dig a hole about the same size as the growing container . Gently remove the clumps from their existing container and lower them into the fix you made .
Firm the dirt up around the clump and water well . If the soil settles , add a bit more .
How to Grow Miner’s Lettuce
Before you decide where to put miner ’s lettuce , opine about how much you really want to grow .
In the correct conditions , it reproduce rapidly and can spread far and all-embracing .
You might imagine you ’re providing it with just a little partially funny corner in your garden , but in a few year , you ’ll be drudge it out of your driveway and next to the front lawn .
In plus , when the birds and pismire snatch the seeds and carry them , they assist spread this plant around the garden .
For most people , it ’s not a problem . It ’s a pretty industrial plant , and it is n’t incursive , it ’s just opportunistic .
I personally glean all of mine before it sets seed in the belated spring , and I ’ve never had it escape .
If you ’re really worried about it spreading , works in an area with some boundaries , like araised bedor a container , and harvest before it move to seed .
Keep in mind that if you do that , miner ’s wampum might not come back next year if it ’s too warm or dry for too long , and you ’ll have to sow young ejaculate .
So long as the weather is cool , miner ’s moolah will rise in anything from full shade to full Sunday in Zones 6 to 9 . Temperatures below freeze wo n’t bother them , but anything above 70 ° F is the danger geographical zone .
Those in shadier areas will make fewer bloom and will be a bit long-shanked , but since each straw only grows one folio ( or set of leafage ) , it does n’t matter how long the petiole is . There will just be more for the munching .
Although mineworker ’s lettuce is adaptable , it prefers humus - full-bodied dirt .
The plants are passing cold - hardy and they ’re a favorite for gardener who want to growwinter crops in a dusty frameor even out in the garden .
They will overwinter in most part of North America , though they might be forget under snow for part of the time .
Just as miner ’s lettuce will adapt to a mixed bag of different sunlight exposures and soil types , it ’s also adaptable when it make out to moisture .
When the plants are young , the stain must be keep consistently dampish . As they mature , a fiddling bit of drought wo n’t hurt , but endeavor to keep the soil evenly moist .
Do n’t bother fertilizing this plant life , though process in a good flake of well - rot compost when you plant wo n’t go amiss .
Growing Tips
Maintenance
As the day get hot , the mineworker ’s clams will go to seed and then will go back to the ground . If you want a new patch next year , let the plants go to source and drop to the basis by nature .
But if your goal is to prevent miner ’s cabbage from move to seed , deplume the flowers as shortly as the temperatures start climbing over 70 ° F and the bloom tight .
Where to Buy Miner’s Lettuce
Remember , you require to source seeds from authentic and ethical growers so as not to harm indigenous populations of miner ’s kale .
You should also cautiously analyse the images when buying becauseC. sibiricaandC. perfoliataare often mislabeled .
A quick net search evince plants that are understandably label as the other species .
They grow in alike experimental condition and savour similar , though some people choose the more succulent compaction ofC. perfoliata .
Miner ’s Lettuce , C. perfoliata
C. perfoliatais much more common in the commercial marketplace .
High Mowing Organic Seedsis a reliable vendor that carriesC. perfoliataseeds in a variety of packet size and in volume .
Managing Pests and Disease
Do n’t you just love a plant that has hardly any problem with pestilence and disease ? Claytonia is fairly tough .
slug and snails and herbivore like hare and deer are the most common pests to watch out for .
Unless you have free - tramp chickens . Do n’t even lease them see you say the words miner ’s scratch .
Herbivores
These plant are tasty , and we certainly ca n’t bear herbivores to disaccord .
Deer will graze on the miner ’s clams folio , but unless they really go to town , it ’s not a large deal .
The plant life grow right back pretty rapidly . Still , if you ’d rather not share , fencing or netting is going to be your friend .
gossip ourguide for some tips on exclude cervid from your garden .
I have an endearing little rabbit living in my old greenhouse , and she sticks around my urban tidy sum , no doubt , because of all the tasty treats I have in my garden .
She seems to love the miner ’s lettuce , in particular . I do n’t mind sharing , because I implant a pretty good - sized patch every winter , and there ’s more than enough to go around .
But if you want to keep the goods for yourself , plant in a container and keep the container close to your home . Or use netting to keep our bouncy friends out .
We have more crest abouthow to control rabbits in our guide .
Slugs and Snails
Most of us have distribute with slugs and snails at some compass point . If the leaf are miss entirely , leave a bare petiole behind , it ’s often the work of mollusk .
They ’ll also chew ragged gob in the foliage . I use shot to moderate them , but we have gobs of otheruseful techniques for escargot control in our guide .
Insects
Insects are n’t much of a problem . Even if they do visit , the damage they do is usually minimum . The most vulgar ones to view out for are :
Aphids are sap - sucking insect in the superfamily Aphidoidea .
They are pretty common in the garden and provender on most flora . They are n’t a big deal on miner ’s wampum , do a slight yellowing on the leaves , but the existent job is that they spread turnip yellows virus ( TuYV ) to the plant .
Once they feed in on the plant , they ’ve already spread the disease , so prevention is key . Read our guide to discover how to control aphids .
The larva of purslane sawflies ( Schizocerella pilicornis ) will consume the seeds of miner ’s lettuce , denying you a crop the following year if you rely on self - sowing .
It ’s hard to recite they ’re around unless you see the tail - inch - long , fleeceable larvae that resemble caterpillars .
If they ’re present , spray your plants with neem oil or insecticidal soap .
Monterey Insecticidal Soap
If you need to foot up a bottle , head to Arbico Organics , which carry Monterey blade insecticidal soap in 32 - ounce ready - to - exercise spray bottles .
Disease
The only disease that harms miner ’s lettuce , either cultivated or wild , is turnip yellow computer virus .
This disease is spread by aphid and have the leaves to turn lily-livered between the veins , cerise spots , and distort growth .
There is no cure , so if you see these symptom , you ’ll need to pluck the flora and toss away of it .
It wo n’t suffer you to eat up it , but the leaves wo n’t taste as good and it can spread to many specie , includingturnipsandpurslane .
Harvesting Miner’s Lettuce
Miner ’s kale leaves can be harvested as soon as they ’re heavy enough for your mouthful .
When fully mature , I ’ve see single leaves that can reach up to three inch in diam , but they ’re usually half that size .
Siberian miner ’s cabbage tastes well when it ’s youthful , while unwashed miner ’s wampum is splendid at any leg .
Harvest by cutting the petiole off near the open of the soil . you could wipe out both the petiole and the foliage , they smack the same and the leafstalk is incredibly crank .
The flavor is similar tospinachbut a scrap earthier , like a hint ofbeets , and with a succulent crunch .
Claytonia should be eaten right forth after you glean . It does n’t salt away well at all , though you might get a few Clarence Day if you put it in a formative bag in the produce drawer of your icebox .
Recipes and Cooking Ideas
The most obvious way to apply your freshly harvest miner ’s dinero is by tossing it into a salad or using the leaves to dress a sandwich . But we can be more creative than that !
The leave-taking hold up well to brief cookery , so you could toss out them at the last second into ado - fries , Italian rice , or to top couscous or quinoa .
you’re able to mop up them up into a pesto . I care to chop them and toss them onto alimentary paste or soup . you may use the farewell to make soup , too .
Quick Reference Growing Guide
Worth Its Weight In Gold
There are n’t many plant that can provide alimentation throughout the coldest month .
There also are n’t a long ton of flora you could scrounge that taste delicious as - is , without any cooking , chopping , or dressing .
mayhap you’re able to see why I was more excited to encounter this plant than any hard - to - reach ghost townsfolk .
And if you’relooking for a few other leafy greensto bring together your mineworker ’s pelf , read these guides next :
pic by Kristine Lofgren © Ask the Experts , LLC . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.See our TOSfor more details . Cartesian product pic via Arbico Organics and High Mowing Organic Seeds . Uncredited photos : Shutterstock .
About
Kristine Lofgren
