Claytonia megarhiza

Claytonia megarhiza is a species of wildflower in the family Montiaceae known by the common names fell-fields claytonia[2] and alpine springbeauty.[3] The specific epithet megarhiza is Greek for "large roots".[3]

Claytonia megarhiza
var. nivalis, Wenatchee Mountains

Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Montiaceae
Genus: Claytonia
Species:
C. megarhiza
Binomial name
Claytonia megarhiza

Range and Habitat

Claytonia megarhiza is native to western North America from northwestern Canada to New Mexico, where it grows in rock crevices and talus habitats in subalpine and alpine climates. The species is known from summits and slopes of North America's highest mountains including the Redstone Mountains of the Canadian Northwest Territories, disjunct south to the central and southern Rocky Mountains reaching a southern limit in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.[4] In the Wenatchee Mountains of Washington State it is often found on serpentine.[5]

Description

This is a perennial herb growing from a thick, scaly caudex topped with a stem 5–25 cm (2–10 in) in length.[2] The fleshy basal leaves form a dense rosette around the caudex. The leaves are often red when young and turn green as they mature, often retaining a dark purple-red edge.[3] The inflorescences arise from within the rosette of leaves, usually around the rosette edges, and produce a dense cluster of two to six white or pinkish flowers.[6] Each petals reaches 5–20 mm (0.2–0.8 in) in length.[2] Claytonia megarhiza var. nivalis (Wenatchee springbeauty) grows on serpentine soils and has bright violet flowers.[5]

Uses

The rosettes of the leaves and the roots can be eaten as an emergency food.[7]

References
  1. NatureServe (2023). "Claytonia megarhiza". NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  2. Flora North America
  3. Southwest Colorado Wildflowers
  4. Miller, J. M. and K. L. Chambers. 2006. Systematics of Claytonia (Portulacaceae). Systematic Botany Monographs 78: 1-236. ISBN 0-912861-78-9
  5. Hitchcock, C.L. and Cronquist, A. 2018. Flora of the Pacific Northwest, 2nd Edition, p. 56. University of Washington Press, Seattle.
  6. Jepson Manual Treatment
  7. Elias, Thomas S.; Dykeman, Peter A. (2009) [1982]. Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods. New York: Sterling. p. 92. ISBN 978-1-4027-6715-9. OCLC 244766414.
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