Spring Beauty

Claytonia virginica is in the Miner's-lettuce (Montiaceae) family.

The name recognizes John Clayton, who was a Clerk of Gloucester County in Virginia. As an amature botanist, he travelled around Virginia collecting specimens of flora and fauna, sending the specimens to botanist, Johannes Fredericus Gronovius in England. Gronovius named and categorized the specimens, publishing them in a book titled, Flora Virginica in 1739. This significant book was the only comprehensive record of Virginia flora for over 200 years!

The common name, Spring Beauty is fitting, as these beautiful flowers are among the first to bloom in spring woodland.

The flowers of Claytonia virginica occur in racemes. Flowering is sequential, beginning with the base of the raceme. Each raceme may bear up to 20 flowers, although only a few may be open at once. Buds tilt gracefully downward while flowers face upward when open. The nodding buds form a graceful arch on the raceme. While individual flowers are small, only about a half inch across, they are readily noticed in the woods as a profusion of plants are often seen blooming together. Plants flower over a period of 4-6 weeks.

Each flower has five petals with 2 green sepals, five stamens with pink anthers and a style with a 3-branched stigma. Stamens are initially erect as they shed their pollen, then lay back onto the flower petals, away from the style.

Flower color varies from nearly completely white to pink with prominent medium to dark pink veins coursing along the petals.

Claytonia virginica has two opposite, usually narrow, basal leaves with a central vein and two opposite cauline leaves. The width of the basal leaves depends on local ecotype. The plants on Ozarkedge have narrow leaves. The 2 stem leaves (cauline) are glabrous and slightly recurved. The flower raceme develops above the cauline leaves.

Basal leaves first appear in late fall to early winter, growing along the ground and radiating from the corm. Where they find sun, the leaves are green, but early leaves may appear dark purplish to red.

The stem is glabrous (somewhat succulent), erect or sprawling and often has a reddish tint at its base. There may be one or several stems from a single corm. Each seed pod contains several black seeds. When ripe, the seeds burst explosively from their pods, spreading seed up to 2 feet away and helping to extend the colony.

It is not uncommon for me to find Spring Beauties infected by a plant rust (Puccina mariae-wildoniae). This may occur from fungal spores. It appears as clusters of yellow-orange pits on the stems and flower buds. I'm not sure how significant this rust is and I hope to learn more as I follow the plants from year to year on Ozarkedge. If you'd like to learn more, you can search for 'Frey, F. M. "Opposing natural selection from herbivores and pathogens may maintain floral-color variation in." Claytonia virginica: 2426-2437'. I read about this interesting study on Ozark Bill's Portfolio which is beautiful blog.

Claytonia virginica is one of our native plants that has bee guides. The pink lines on the flower petals help 'guide' bees and other insects to the nectar at the center of the flower. But bees and butterflies are not the only pollinators of Spring Beauties. My research found that there are many (one source cited 70) species of insects that have been recorded pollinating these petite flowers! Below is just a small sampling of insect visitors I've documented on Ozarkedge.

Juvenal's Duskywing is commonly seen in oak woodlands and woodland edge in early spring and are often spotted nectaring on the flowers of Spring Beauty. Falcate Orangetip butterflies are also frequent visitors of Spring beauties in the woodland. I find Juniper hairstreaks nectaring on these flowers in glade and woodland edge habitat.

If you notice leaf damage, it's most likely the result slugs, who don't bother the flowers, but eat the leaves at night. Deer also consume the foliage.

Spring Beauties can be found throughout Arkansas. They thrive in partial shade to nearly full sun. Their broad native habitat includes open woods, savannas, bluffs, prairies, glades and even lawns.

NatureServe Status

• Critically Imperiled (S1) Massachusetts, Nebraska
• Imperiled (S2) Vermont
• Apparently Secure (S4) Iowa, Kansas
• Secure S5: District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West VirginiaSH: Rhode IslandSNR: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin
• Possibly Extirpated (SH): Rhode Island
• No Status Ranking (SNR): Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin

Arkansas Conservation Value - C5

The value of C5 places Claytonia virginica it in the center of the Conservation Group 4-7 meaning "Typically matrix taxa in intact, stable habitats, with some limited ability to respond to destabilizing forces and repopulate areas from which they have been extirpated."

It is found in almost every county in Arkansas.

Spring Beauties grow from a corm that is edible. I have never eaten one and am not advocating it, but I've read they were considered delicacies by Native Americans. They are said to taste like radishes when raw, but when baked have a flavor similar to potatoes or chestnuts. Overall it's best to limit digging of wild plants so as not contribute to their decreasing population in the wild.

It’s tempting to pick Spring Beauty flowers for a bouquet, but it’s best not to do so. The flowers are so small, it takes too many to make bouquet and they wilt too quickly to enjoy. Most importantly, if the stem and both leaves are cut, it will kill the plant.