Spring Beauty
Taken at Troon on 8th April 2023 using Panasonic Lumix TZ70 in macro mode.
Fact File

Taken at Aberlady on 20th August 2020 using Panasonic Lumix LX5 in macro mode. Fact File
Spring Beauty

Taken at Tyninghame Bay
on 6th May 2018 using Panasonic Lumix LX5 in macro mode.
Fact File
Spring Beauty.
Species:
Order:
Family:
Habit:
AKA:
Claytonia perfoliata.
Caryophyllales.
Montiaceae.
Annual.
Miner's lettuce, winter purslane or Indian lettuce
Habitat:
Blooms:
Height:
Feature:

Prefers cool, damp conditions.
February/May - June
40 cms.
The common name miner's lettuce refers to 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.
It is widely naturalized in western Europe. It was introduced there in the eighteenth century, possibly by the naturalist Archibald Menzies, who brought it to Kew Gardens in 1794.