Description
Claytonia – Spring Beauty –
There are about 15 species of deciduous and evergreen, succulent, small perennials and some annuals or short lived perennials, in this genus. They occur mainly in mountainous area, often in scree, in Australasia and Western North America. They have swollen taproots and sometimes spread by stolons. They produce rosettes of fleshy, stalked basal leaves, and opposite, stalkless, often stem clasping upper leaves. Small, short lived, 5 petalled, cup or bowl shaped, pink, purple, yellow or white flowers are borne in terminal racemes in summer. Grow in an alpine house or a scree bed.
Grow in gritty, humus rich, sharply drained soil in full sun. Protect from excessive winter moisture.
Prone to downy mildew, rust, and aphids.
C. virginica – This low growing, succulent perennial from Eastern North America grows 12″ tall and 8″ wide. It produces opposite, paired, linear to lance shaped, dark green leaves, to 6″ long. In spring, up to 15 pink tinged, white flowers, to 3/4″ across, are carried in racemes. Produces sweet, edible corms.
Zones 4-9
