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miner's lettuce Identification (Claytonia perfoliata)
Recognize miner's lettuce by its round, fused upper leaf that encircles the stem, with a thin flowering stalk rising from the center. Plants stay low, usually under 12 inches (30 cm), and the small white flowers have five petals.
Lower leaves are separate, spoon-shaped, and form a basal cluster near the ground.
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Check the plant’s leaf arrangement and small white flowers first.
- A slender, smooth stem rises through a round leaf that looks pierced through the center.
- Lower leaves form a small basal rosette and are spoon-shaped with long stalks.
- The stem leaf is circular to cup-like, often 1-3 inches (2.5-7.5 cm) wide, with paired flower stalks from its center.
- Flowers are tiny, white to pale pink, with 5 petals that are often shallowly notched at the tips.
The stem passing through a round leaf is the fastest visual clue.
Claytonia perfoliata shows clear stage-to-stage leaf and stem changes that help confirm identification.
- Seedling: Seedlings begin as a small basal rosette with smooth, fleshy, spoon-shaped seed leaves and the first true leaves still separate, not stem-clasping.
- Young plant: The young plant keeps a low rosette, then sends up a slender stem; upper leaves enlarge and start pairing around the stem.
- Flowering stage: At flowering, opposite upper leaves fuse into a round cup below the stem tip, with a small cluster of white five-petaled flowers above; stems reach 4-12 inches (10-30 cm).
- Fruiting stage: After bloom, the flower cluster holds tiny capsule fruits above the leaf cup; petals drop, and the upright stem looks more branched and open.
In late winter to spring, Claytonia perfoliata is easiest to recognize when the round, paired upper leaves fuse around the stem, forming a small cup. Delicate white to pale pink flowers then appear from the center of that leaf pair. By late spring to early summer, plants often fade quickly after flowering and seed set. Patches can disappear almost completely as the foliage withers, leaving little or no above-ground growth.
A few spring annuals can be mistaken for miner's lettuce at a glance.
springbeauty(Claytonia virginica)
Both are low Claytonia with small white to pink flowers. springbeauty lacks the round, fused stem leaf; its leaves are separate, narrow, and mostly basal.
water chickweed(Montia fontana)
This can share a delicate, succulent look and tiny white flowers. It does not make the single round leaf that surrounds the stem, and it usually grows in very wet ground.
toothed lewisia(Lewisia rediviva)
Young plants can suggest a small fleshy annual rosette. It has straplike basal leaves and larger pink flowers, not the paired basal leaves plus one circular stem leaf.
Native to western North America, Claytonia perfoliata ranges from British Columbia south through California and into parts of the interior West. That range helps separate it from similar small spring annuals outside the Pacific Coast region. It is most often found in moist spring habitats such as open woodlands, shaded slopes, grasslands, and disturbed ground. Seeing it in low-elevation spring growth, especially in California, can strongly support identification.
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FAQ
The clearest feature is the round, disk-like upper leaf that wraps around the stem, with the flower stalk rising from its center. This paired, fused leaf is the key detail in miner's lettuce identification.
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