Carolina Spring Beauty is a herbaceous perennial which has been moved from the Purslane family to the Miner's Lettuce family of plants. Carolina Spring Beauty blooms early in the spring and grows along the East coast of North America. Carolina Spring Beauty, as well as other species in the genus Claytonia, have been used historically as food for humans and livestock. The genus name 'Claytonia' is in commemoration of John Clayton (1686-1773), an American physician who collected several plant species in Virginia. The species name 'Caroliniana' means of Carolina a location where this plant was first identified.
There is currently no commercial applications for carolina spring beauty.
Within the realm of rational and holistic medicine, Carolina Spring Beauty has been used as a food source for the native people of North America. Carolina Spring Beauty was also used to relieve pain by applying to cuts and sores. The plant was also eaten to treat constipation and to relieve headaches. Carolina Spring Beauty was mixed into a solution with pitch and mountain hemlock to treat the symptoms of Syphilis. The entire plant was chewed and swallowed to be used as a contraceptive or during pregnancy to ease in the birthing process. A plant infusion was taken orally to help relieve sore throats and stem juice was squeezed into the eye for sore red eyes.
Please note that MIROFOSS does not suggest in any way that plants should be used in place of proper medical and psychological care. This information is provided here as a reference only.
Carolina Spring Beauty is considered to be a nutritious food and contains Vitamin C, Vitamin A, and protein within the underground tubers. Carolina Spring Beauty can be eaten raw, steamed, or cooked and dried. The leaves can be added raw to mixed salads or be cooked as a green vegetable.
Carolina Spring Beauty can grow in medium (loamy) or heavy (clay) soils, and prefers moist swampy land. Carolina Spring Beauty can grow in acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade and is known for attracting insects.
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| Notes: |
Carolina Spring Beauty is a perennial plant growing from a globe shaped tuber that is 1cm to 2cm across. The leaves of the Carolina Spring Beauty are linear basal shaped 3cm to 14cm long, 5mm to 13mm wide without stalks. The flowers of the Carolina Spring Beauty are white with pink stripes 5mm to 12mm across. Each flower has five petals with two sepals 5mm to 7mm long. Each flower also contains 5 stamens and 1 pistil. The flowers are radially symmetrical and grow in clusters of two to ten with a nodding bract. Carolina Spring Beauty produces a fruit capsule which is globe shaped and enclosed by two persistent sepals with six seeds contained within.
| Plant Height | 15cm to 30cm |  |
| Habitat | Moist Woods, Thickets, Clearings, Lawns | |
| Leaves | Linear basal leaves 5cm to 14cm long | |
| Leaf Margin | Entire | |
| Leaf Venation | Longitudinal | |
| Stems | smooth stems | |
| Flowering Season | March to May | |
| Flower Type | Radially Symmetrical | |
| Flower Colour | White | |
| Pollination | Bees, Insects | |
| Flower Gender | Flowers are hermaphrodite and the plants are self-fertile | |
| Fruit | Hard oval seeds | |
| USDA Zone | 3B (-34°C to -37°C) cold weather limit |
No known health risks have been associated with carolina spring beauty. However ingestion of naturally occurring plants without proper identification is not recommended.
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-Click here- or on the thumbnail image to see an artist rendering, from The United States Department of Agriculture, of carolina spring beauty. (This image will open in a new browser tab) |
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There is currently no seed image(s) available for carolina spring beauty. |
Carolina Spring Beauty can be referenced in certain current and historical texts under the following three names:
Carolina Spring Beauty can be translated into the following select languages:
| Arabic | ربيع الجمال | Bulgarian | пролетта красота | Chinese (Sim) | 春美 |
| Croatian | proljeće ljepota | Czech | jaro krásal | Danish | foråret skønhed |
| Dutch | lente schoonheid | Esperanto | printempa beleco | Estonian | kevadel ilu |
| Finnish | kevät kauneus | French | printemps beauté | German | Frühjahr Schönheit |
| Greek | την άνοιξη ομορφιά | Hebrew | יופי האביב | Hungarian | tavaszi szépség |
| Italian | primavera di bellezza | Japanese | 春の美しさ | Korean | 봄의 아름다움 |
| Punjabi | ਬਸੰਤ ਸੁੰਦਰਤਾ | Lithuanian | pavasario grožis | Norwegian | våren skjønnhet |
| Persian | زیبایی بهار | Polish | Portuguese | primavera beleza | |
| Romanian | primăvară frumusete | Russian | весной красоты | Slovak | jar krása |
| Spanish | belleza de primavera | Swedish | fjäder skönhet | Tagalog | |
| Turkish | bahar güzelliği | Ukrainian | навесні краси | Vietnamese | mùa xuân đẹp |
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The MIROFOSS database offers free printable garden tags for personal and non-profit use. These tags can be used to properly identify plant samples in a garden. Click on the tags shown on the the screen or -click here- to download a full size jpeg image for a carolina spring beauty identification tag; which can be printed on paper or used with a plastic laser printer. |
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What's this? What can I do with it? |
| Description | Davis, R. J. 1966. The North American perennial species of Claytonia. Brittonia 18:285-303 |
| Description | Fassett, N. 1976. Spring flora of Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, Wisconsin. |
| Description | Gleason, H. A., and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. Second Edition. New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York. |
| Folklore | MacKinnon, Kershaw, Arnason, Owen, Karst, Hamersley, Chambers. 2009. Edible & Medicinal Plants Of Canada ISBN 978-1-55105-572-5 |
| Biology | Dickinson, T.; Metsger, D.; Bull, J.; & Dickinson, R. (2004) ROM Field Guide to Wildflowers of Ontario. Toronto:Royal Ontario Museum, |
| Image Rendering | USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA NRCS. Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide to plant species. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. |
| Environment | National Audubon Society. Field Guide To Wildflowers (Eastern Region): Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-375-40232-2 |
| Physical Identification | National Audubon Society. Field Guide To Wildflowers (Eastern Region): Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-375-40232-2 |
| August 29, 2015 | The last time this page was updated |
| ©2021 MIROFOSS™ Foundation | |
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