Native Plant Fun Facts: Edible, Elegant Claytonia perfoliata

Claytonia perfoliata (rooreh, Miner’s lettuce) at GFE with Arum italicum plant in background.

This week, the lovely annual groundcover plant, Claytonia perfoliata (plant family Montiaceae), is our featured California native plant. It is called rooreh by the native Ohlone people. Common names for it are Indian lettuce and Miner’s lettuce, the latter which came from 1850s Gold Rush miners eating it on their journeys in Northern California for general nutrition and to help prevent scurvy (it contains high levels of Vitamin C). 

“Miner’s Lettuce is edible?”, you ask? Yes, it is! All parts of the plant can be consumed, and it has a delightfully mild, earthy, and to some palates, slightly buttery flavor. Lucky for you that it’s still in season (it grows from February to May and is getting a boost from our early spring Bay Area rains). So, if you have some near to where you’re sheltering in place, now is a great time to harvest some and make a really fresh, succulent salad with it! 

It looks good enough to eat! Lucky for you, claytonia perfoliata is edible.

Claytonia perfoliata easily self-seeds and prefers cool, shaded spots. It grows wild and can also be cultivated. It’s often considered a weed. However, the term “weed” is subjective -- a weed is merely a plant that’s in a place where it’s not wanted. Admittedly some weeds are more insidious than others, but if you currently have an abundance of Claytonia perfoliata, it can now feed you rather than “weed” your garden. Enjoy!

Young Claytonia perfoliata nestled in a patch of lamb’s ear plant (Stachys byzantina)