“The Claytonia perfoliata was discovered on the northwest coast of America, by Mr. Archibald Menzies, and introduced by him into the Kew Garden, in the year 1796, where it has maintained itself ever since, and whence it has been communicated to most of the Botanic Gardens in the kingdom.
Flowers nearly all the summer; and in a moist soil, not too much exposed, will sow itself, and the young plants will come up in the spring, requiring no other care than to prevent their being choked by more powerful weeds, or cut off by that destructive instrument the hoe. Our drawing was taken at Mr. Salisbury’s Botanic Garden, Brompton.” Curtis’s Botanical Magazine, 1811 *
Miner's lettuce is the most recognizable wild edible plant now.
The genus, Claytonia, had been named for 18th century botanist , John Clayton**, by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. ‘Perfoliate’, means having a leaf with the base united around, and apparently pierced by, the stem.
In 1806, Lewis and Clark’s men collected this plant, Claytonia perfoliata, called miner’s lettuce, at The Dalles, along the Columbia River.*** Until reading this, I had thought the ‘”miners” were “49ers.” Obviously, if Lewis and Clark referred to miners in 1806, then this common belief is a misconception. In 1897, in The wild flowers of California: Their names, haunts, and habits , Mary Elizabeth Parsons does refers to Claytonia perfoliata as Indian lettuce.
The seedling starts out with no leaves on a spidery cluster of stems, here at the base of an oak.
At ground level, Miner’s lettuce, a California native in the Portulaca family, sprouts dozens of thin stems, eventually topped with tiny, heart-shaped leaves. As these grow, each one encircles the stem, so that the leaves appear as flat-topped umbrellas, sometimes blown into cupped shapes by the wind.
Miner's Lettuce, Claytonia perfoliata in the meadow
‘Perfoliate’ stem
They pop up everywhere even in my potting soil bin.
Most of the edible ‘weeds’, are of European nativity, dandelion, plantain, chickweed, purslane, mallow, cat’s ear, garlic mustard, shepherd’s purse. I don’t actually eat these, but I do eat Claytonia perfoliata! I eat it right out of the garden, and the taste to me is between peas and grass. I especially like to offer it to any young ones around the place and haven’t had one refuse yet. Hmmm.
In the shade the leaves are tender and sweet, like these growing out from under a bench.
These round leaves are used in salads, like this one prepared for Tractor Man’s lunch. I did tell him the ingredients…halfway through and he said he couldn’t tell any difference between this and any other salad I’ve made. Humh.
Miner's lettuce is in high demand in fine restaurants and if Hubby like its, we'll have it more. Why not?
This was a mixed green salad, half green leafy lettuce and half Miner’s lettuce, chopped green onions and toasted sesame seeds. I’d like to try a fennel, apple, and Claytonia salad sometime.
Easy Vinaigrette
For 2 salads
Whisk in the bottom of the salad bowl:
4 T olive oil
2 T white wine vinegar
1 t mustard
Salt & pepper to taste
Add lettuces and toss.
Miner's lettuce seeds itself everywhere and thought it would like living in this pot
WesternSierra Nursery-Oakhurst, CA
Dave's Garden Plant search
Intermountain Nursery-Prather, CA
Been meaning to get some of that for about a year. If it works in California it will work here. Obviously it existed before the Miners, and before the Indians I guess. But I know it came here with the California miners who came to the Otago gold rush. So “miners lettuce’ will do as a name for me. I must have a look around the old mine camp remnants. If that doesn’t work, I do know I can buy seeds on mail order.
Thanks for the nice write up. I’ve liked Miner’s Lettuce for a long time, making some snacks with it years before I had a broader interest in native plants.
It wasn’t completely clear if Lewis and Clark called C. perfoliata Miner’s Lettuce or not. That was my take away from your concluding remarks in that section, but a closer read of your leading sentence, “In 1806, Lewis and Clark’s men collected this plant, Claytonia perfoliata, called miner’s lettuce, at The Dalles, along the Columbia River” made me confused. Is this a contemporary reference to the common name or a quote from a record of the L&C expedition?
While Googling for an answer on my own I did find out that it was common practice for miners to set fires in order to clear brush. Perhaps Miner’s Lettuce is a fire follower and that might explain an earlier provenance of its name than 1849
(For those who might be reading along from out of the area, California’s gold rush took place in 1849.)
Considering that you are in a mining area, Kerry, that would be very appropriate and a conversation starter. Know any chefs you that would want any? This year, I’d like to watch for the seed when it appears. :-)
Brett, Very interesting question… It looks like a quote to me. I had to check again to make sure I got this right and I should have included the reference to the 1806 reference, so I just added it above.
In the Herbarium of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Vol. 12, pg 23, item 46, they do call it miner’s lettuce, so that predates everything I’ve heard before, by 44 years. What miner’s were they referring to? Not capitalized, so probably not a proper name. This is a question for someone who knows more history of Lewis and Clark’s era. Someday I’d like to read the preface material in the Herbarium to get more of the story. What do you think? ~Sue
Brett, the only problem with this is that we can’t be positive whether an editor changed the name to miner’s lettuce to indicate the difference between perfoliata and another Claytonia, but I don’t believe so. On pg 7 of the Herbarium source, it says the names were determined from nomenclature provided on the specimen sheets.
Another book about the expedition says “The specimen sheets bear various labels and annotations by Lewis, or Pursh or Lambert”, the botanists who recorded the collection.
Thanks for asking this question, Brett, I don’t know why I’m so interested in plant names or their discovery. I enjoyed looking into this as well!
I love the look of the salad, particularly how you leave the perfoliate leaves on the stems: a salad with some terrific architectural greens. I’ve tried growing this a couple times but I always let the plants down by not watering nearly enough. We have these in the canyon nearby, but the canyon clearly has some areas moister than most of my garden.
James, after I took the photo I took the top piece off so Tractor man wouldn’t be startled…told him after he ate half. It’s worth harvesting if you find it or maybe it’d grow under a drippy faucet. Even in our dry climate baby tears grows under mine.
Hi Sue –
I was so reluctant to give up the traditional story about the roots of the miner’s lettuce name that I read through page 7 and it looks like some more modern references were used to give the common names of the plants. In the end of the last paragraph on page 7 it cites 1973 and 1986 sources as particularly useful in determining the appropriate vernacular name of each of the plants in the herbarium.
I think the reference to nomenclature on the specimen sheets for identification purposes doesn’t preclude the use of a more modern source for the common name.
I’m pretty convinced of this right now, but I could change my mind. What’s grabbed my attention is the ~100 year use of Montia, then a shift back to Claytonia. But maybe I’m just projecting the drama of the great renaming of Napa Gamay, which has a more widely appreciated use as a wine grape.
Hi Brett, It’s an interesting question. I can see where modern editors compiling this Herbarium would want present day readers to know which plant is indicated in each entry, so would add information in modern usage. Maybe that’s what they did here. The problem I think, is for a historian, he/she would want to know ‘what the notes back then said exactly’ to understand what the actual explorers were experiencing. I was hoping that Lewis and Clark did call it miner’s lettuce because the idea of that was pretty fascinating! hahaha Hard to be objective!
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