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Miners Lettuce

Claytonia perfoliata

Description:

Is this miner's lettuce?

1 Species ID Suggestions

Miner s Lettuce
Claytonia perfoliata Calflora: Claytonia perfoliata


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10 Comments

Hema  Shah
Hema Shah 12 years ago

Yes Ava. Very exciting to think that you do not have to go shopping or do any gardening! just pull up the weeds and eat um.

CindyBinghamKeiser
CindyBinghamKeiser 12 years ago

Ava, if you do take that course, I hope you'll share your knowledge on your spottings :)

Hema  Shah
Hema Shah 12 years ago

Great idea Ava! Thanks for sharing!.

Hema  Shah
Hema Shah 12 years ago

Thnx!
Another thing you could eat is the pine cones of the Coulterri pine. They are huge. Have to figure out how though!

Ava T-B
Ava T-B 12 years ago

Yes it's edible. I think it's called Miner's Lettuce because the 49ers ate it during the gold rush when food was scarce. i could be making that up of course ;) Actually, lots of things we think of as noxious weeds are edible. I stir-fried up some dandelion leaves I weeded out of my garden a few weeks ago. I want to take a class about local edible weeds so i can start foraging for greens.

CindyBinghamKeiser
CindyBinghamKeiser 12 years ago

Yip although I hope that scenario doesn't happen! Here's what Wikipedia says: "The common name Miner's lettuce refers its use by California Gold Rush miners who ate it to get their vitamin C to prevent scurvy. It can be eaten as a leaf vegetable. Most commonly it is eaten raw in salads, but it is not quite as delicate as other lettuce. Sometimes it is boiled like spinach, which it resembles in taste."

Hema  Shah
Hema Shah 12 years ago

Is this edible?
Good to no in case there is a shortage of food after an earthquake! Hopefully won't happen. it is always on the mind though! When you live on shaky ground!

CindyBinghamKeiser
CindyBinghamKeiser 12 years ago

:) I've never had a wild/weed grow in the garden that I could eat!

Hema  Shah
Hema Shah 12 years ago

Thanks Cindy. i am a little overwhelmed . i saw this in Yosemite National park. would have never thought that it grew literally in the vegetable patch in my backyard. It grew there with an assortment of weeds after the few rains we had.

CindyBinghamKeiser
CindyBinghamKeiser 12 years ago

Hi Emma, it sure is! There are two species that grow in that county. This one is C. perfoliata.

HemaShah
Spotted by
HemaShah

California, USA

Spotted on Feb 23, 2012
Submitted on Feb 23, 2012

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