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Claytonia perfoliata - Donn. ex Willd.

Miner's Lettuce

Author	Donn. ex Willd.	Botanical references	17, 60, 270
Family	Portulacaceae	Genus	Claytonia
Synonyms	Montia perfoliata - (Donn. ex Willd.)Howell.
Known Hazards	None known
Range	Western N. America - British Columbia to California and Mexico. Naturalized in Britain.
Habitat	Disturbed and waste ground, moist banks and slopes, often in partial shade, especially on light soils[17, 85]. Also found on rather dry sandy soils[50].
Edibility Rating	4 (1-5)	Medicinal Rating	1 (1-5)

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 0.15m.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in full shade (deep woodland) semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats

Woodland Garden; Sunny Edge; Dappled Shade; Shady Edge; Deep Shade; Ground Cover;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Flowers; Leaves; Root.

Leaves - raw or cooked[2, 5, 12, 27, 52, 62]. A fairly bland flavour with a mucilaginous texture, it is quite nice in a salad[183, K]. The young leaves are best[85], older leaves can turn bitter especially in the summer and if the plant is growing in a hot dry position[K]. Although individual leaves are fairly small, they are produced in abundance and are easily picked[K]. Stalks and flowers - raw[52]. A nice addition to the salad bowl[K]. Bulb - raw[5, 53, 62]. Although very small and labour-intensive to harvest, the boiled and peeled root has the flavour of chestnuts[244]. Another report says that the plant has a fibrous root system[62] so this report seems to be erroneous[K].

Medicinal Uses

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.

Antirheumatic; Laxative.

The leaves are gently laxative[94]. Apart from its value as a nourishing vegetable that is rich in vitamin C, it can also be taken as an invigorating spring tonic and an effective diuretic[254]. A poultice of the mashed plants has been applied to rheumatic joints[257].

Other Uses

Ground cover.

Although only an annual, this species makes an excellent ground cover in a cool acid soil under trees. In such a position it usually self-sows freely[208] and grows all year round[K].

Cultivation details

Prefers a moist peaty soil[1, 60]. It is often found growing wild on sandy soils[264]. An easily grown plant, it can succeed on very poor and dry soils[52, 60]. Plants grow well the dappled shade of trees, producing a better quality crop in such a situation[52, 60, 264]. Although only an annual[208], it usually self-sows when well sited. A very hardy plant, tolerating temperatures down to at least -15°c. Miner's lettuce is occasionally cultivated as a salad plant[1, 46]. It's main value is as a reliable producer of leaves in the winter, though it can provide leaves all year round[141, 200, 264]. It can be grown as a cut and come again crop[183].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring or autumn in situ. The seed usually germinates rapidly.

Links

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[5] Mabey. R. Food for Free. Collins 1974 ISBN 0-00-219060-5
Edible wild plants found in Britain. Fairly comprehensive, very few pictures and rather optimistic on the desirability of some of the plants.

[12] Loewenfeld. C. and Back. P. Britain's Wild Larder. David and Charles 0 ISBN 0-7153-7971-2
A handy pocket guide.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[27] Vilmorin. A. The Vegetable Garden. Ten Speed Press 0 ISBN 0-89815-041-8
A reprint of a nineteenth century classic, giving details of vegetable varieties. Not really that informative though.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[50] ? Flora Europaea Cambridge University Press 1964
An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader.

[52] Larkcom. J. Salads all the Year Round. Hamlyn 1980
A good and comprehensive guide to temperate salad plants, with full organic details of cultivation.

[53] De. Bray. L. The Wild Garden. 0
Interesting reading.

[60] Hitchcock. C. L. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press 1955
A standard flora for Western N. America with lots of information on habitat etc. Five large volumes, it is not for the casual reader.

[62] Elias. T. and Dykeman. P. A Field Guide to N. American Edible Wild Plants. Van Nostrand Reinhold 1982 ISBN 0442222009
Very readable.

[85] Harrington. H. D. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press 1967 ISBN 0-8623-0343-9
A superb book. Very readable, it gives the results of the authors experiments with native edible plants.

[94] Sweet. M. Common Edible and Useful Plants of the West. Naturegraph Co. 1962 ISBN 0-911010-54-8
Useful wild plants in Western N. America. A pocket guide.

[141] Carruthers. S. P. (Editor) Alternative Enterprises for Agriculture in the UK. Centre for Agricultural Strategy, Univ. of Reading 1986 ISBN 0704909820
Some suggested alternative commercial crops for Britain. Readable. Produced by a University study group.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[208] Thomas. G. S. Plants for Ground Cover J. M. Dent & Sons 1990 ISBN 0-460-12609-1
An excellent detailled book on the subject, very comprehensive.

[244] Phillips. R. & Foy. N. Herbs Pan Books Ltd. London. 1990 ISBN 0-330-30725-8
Deals with all types of herbs including medicinal, culinary, scented and dye plants. Excellent photographs with quite good information on each plant.

[254] Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Dorling Kindersley. London 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148
An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

[264] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Vegetables Macmillan Reference Books, London. 1995 ISBN 0 333 62640 0
Excellent and easily read book with good information and an excellent collection of photos of vegetables from around the world, including many unusual species.

[270] Flora of N. America 0
An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses.

Readers Comments

Plants for a Future does not verify the accuracy of reader comments, use at your own risk. In particular Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. You should always consult a professional before using plants medicinally.

Weeds as a future source for human consumption

Martha Díaz B Thu Jun 28 17:02:26 2001

We reciently recieved this article on the use of various weeds in south america. We though that you might enjoy it.

Abstract

Weeds may constitute an additional food source for humans. Up to 66% of weed species are edible and abound in urban and agricultural environments. A total of 43 species were sampled in tropical areas in Coatepec Mexico (e.g. roadsides, urban vacant lots, streets, sugar cane and coffee plantations). A similar survey performed in a temperate area in Bariloche Argentina with 32 species sampled. At a greater geographic scale, a comparison between Mexican and Argentine weeds shows that, proportionately, the food parts vary a little between regions. In general, the uses go from leaves, seeds, roots, fruits, and flowers.

Link: Weeds as a future source for human consumption

Weeds as a future source for human consumption

Klaus Thu Aug 16 16:12:55 2001

I really wonder what this has to do with montia perfoliata. The edible uses of weeds might be interesting, but not as a comment to this plant.

Claytonia perfoliata

Klaus Thu Aug 16 16:17:51 2001

In fact, the seed of a common german variety ("Winterportulak")just germinates rapidly when it had a cold period. Freshly ripe seed sown in the same summer needs up to 4-6 weeks to germinate. (This was told to me by Reinhard Ehrentraut, an organic farmer who produces the seed)

Claytonia perfoliata

Wendy Hocking - Australia Tue Sep 12 2006

Miner's lettuce - Montia perfoliata, was brought to Australia during the goldrush days in New South Wales and Victoria by miners from the American goldfields. It now grows wild along creeks and waterways in a number of old worked-out fields.

Claytonia perfoliata

david n Fri Oct 24 2008

It's possible this plant is more tolerant of growing under conifers than most. I just found a colony of it growing wild under the shade of a conifer, never seen it around here before(wellington, New Zealand) that may have given it the edge over weeds around here that would otherwise smother it, it was in a spot the council probably mow a bit, that may also explain it.

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