Claytonia sibirica – miner’s lettuce or candyflower

By Jess Carey

Spring is in full swing in the Arcata Community Forest. Look out for small pink blooms of Claytonia sibirica poking out from underneath shrubs and trees. The plant is in the family Montiaceae. The plant’s common name, miner’s lettuce, comes from its lettuce-like taste and texture. It was an important source of vitamin C for gold rush miners and helped to prevent scurvy. I like to call it trail salad, as it makes a great trailside snack. 

The young leaves have a bright spinach-like flavor that gets more bitter as the plant flowers and ages. Although it is very common, it is easily overlooked due to its small size. Most plants are less than a foot tall. Its flowers are usually less than a half inch across, and white, with bright pink stripes.

Jess Carey is a senior at Cal Poly Humboldt, majoring in biology and double minoring in botany and journalism, and the science editor for The Lumberjack. They are passionate about telling stories that are relevant to the community, branching their interests in science and the arts.