''Claytonia'' (spring beauty) is a

genus Genus /ˈdʒiː.nəs/ (plural genera /ˈdʒen.ər.ə/) is a taxonomic rank In biological classification In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining (Circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribing) and classifying gr ...

flowering plant Flowering plants include multiple members of the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek#REDIRECT Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece Greec ...

s native to North America, Central America, and Asia. The genus was formerly included in

Portulacaceae The Portulacaceae are a family In human society A society is a Social group, group of individuals involved in persistent Social relation, social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typ ...

but is now classified in the family

Montiaceae Montiaceae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants, comprising about 14 genera with about 230 known species, ranging from herbaceous plants to shrubs. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution. The family Montiaceae was newly adopted ...

, primarily native to the mountain chains of Asia and

North America North America is a continent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention (norm), convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continen ...

, with a couple of species extending south to

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America Central America ( es, América Central, , ''Centroamérica'' ) is a region of the Americas The Am ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central, , ''Centroamérica'' ) is a region of the Americas The Americas (also collectively called America) is a landmass comprising the totality of North North is one of the four compass points or ...

, and northwest to Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Russia in eastern

Asia Asia () is Earth's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Northern Hemisphere, Northern Hemisphere of the Earth, Hemispheres. It shares the continental landmass of Eurasia with the cont ...

Asia

. The genus ''Claytonia'' was moved in 2009 from the purslane family (

) with adoption of the

APG IV system APG is an abbreviation with several different meanings: * Aberdeen Proving Ground Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) (sometimes erroneously called Aberdeen Proving ''Grounds'') is a U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land Land is ...

, which recognised the family Montiaceae. A number of the species were formerly treated in the related genus ''

Montia ''Montia'' is a genus of plants in the family Montiaceae. Species in this genus are known generally as miner's lettuce or water chickweed. All of the species in the genus have edible leaves. It is found worldwide, except in Asia. Montias are kno ...

''. A comprehensive scientific study of ''Claytonia'' was published in 2006. ''

Claytonia perfoliata ''Claytonia perfoliata'' (synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''Montia perfoliata''), also known as miner's lettuce, Indian lettuce, winter purslane, or ''palsingat'' (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla), is a flowering plant in the family Montiaceae. It is an edi ...

'', the species for which the term miner's lettuce was coined, is distributed throughout the Mountain West of North America in moist soils and prefers areas that have been recently disturbed. The genus Claytonia is named after John Clayton (botanist, died 1773), who collected specimens of various plants in North America and distributed them to botanists in Europe.

Species

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London London is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of En ...

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is a non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Irel ...

lists 33 accepted species:

Uses

The leaves of the spring beauty are rich in vitamins and can be eaten raw or cooked. The roots are in the form of

tuber Tubers are enlarged structures used as storage organ A storage organ is a part of a plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living ...

s which can be eaten like potatoes.

References

External links

CalFlora Database: ''Claytonia''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q164192 Caryophyllales genera

Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Taxonomy (biology), Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus (1707−1778), an 18th-century Swedish taxonomist, botanist, and zoologist. Known as the "father of modern taxonomy" – from his inventing and developing binomial nomenclature; the taxonomy (biology) ...