Spring beauty, Claytonia virginica
That pleasure which is at once the most pure, the most elevating and the most intense, is derived, I maintain, from the contemplation of the beautiful. ~Edgar Allan Poe Spring beauties are another early plant that brings joy on seeing the first blooms. Tiny flowers about the breadth of a time are lightly splashed with pink tripes and pink tipped anthers. Their leaves look like blades of grass. This one in the photo is Claytonia americanum, but also have C. caroliniana. They are distinguished by the broader leaves of the C. caroliniana. Both have edible uses, especially the corms, little "potato-like bulbs" that apparently DO taste like potatoes when cooked and supply vitimins A and C. The problem: when you dig up the corm. the plant is gone. So if you want to try it, you will need a large patch of them! Fear not, with a little time you will have an abundance of them. Their tiny seeds have a bit of elaisome (a fatty substance attached to the seed) that is a feast for ants, who chew off the bit of yummy food and drop the seeds. Voila! New plants next year. There are historic medicinal uses of these beauties too: they have been used to make a poultice for eye problems, as a contraceptive, and a variety uses. As always, we do not recommend such use unless you have talked with a doctor who knows plants. |
|
We Would Love to Have You Visit!
|
LIMITED Permission to Use Materials
The right to download and store or output the materials on our website is granted for the user's personal educational use only. Materials are copyrighted may not be edited, reproduced, transmitted or displayed by any means mechanical or electronic without our express written permission. Users wishing to obtain permission to reprint or reproduce any materials appearing on this site may contact us using the Contact Form. If granted, we will email you a written permission for you to keep on file. We respond quickly to such requests. |
ASSOCIATION
The North Carolina Unit is a member of the Herb Society of America, Inc. Visit the national organization at www.herbsociety.org |