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Carolina spring-beauty

candy flower, pink purslane, Siberian miner's-lettuce, Siberian spring-beauty, western springbeauty

Habit Plants perennial, with globose tubers 10–20 mm diam.; periderm 1–5 mm. Plants annual or perennial, rhizomatous, producing bulblets or stolons; periderm absent.
Stems

6–25 cm.

5–40 cm.

Leaves

basal leaves 6–21, petiolate, blade elliptic or spatulate, 3–5 × 1–3 cm;

cauline leaves abruptly petiolate, blade lanceolate to spatulate or ovate, 4–8 × 0.5–2.5 cm.

basal leaves petiolate, 3–20 cm, blade linear, lanceolate, or deltate, 2–7 × 1–5 cm;

cauline leaves sessile, distinct, blade lanceolate to ovate, 1–5 cm.

Inflorescences

1-bracteate (rarely with 2 bracts).

multibracteate;

bracts leaflike, 5–30 mm.

Flowers

8–12 mm diam.;

sepals 3–5 mm;

petals white, pink, or candy-striped, 6–10 mm;

ovules 6.

8–20 mm diam., sepals 3–5 mm;

petals white, candy-striped, or pink, 8–14 mm;

ovules 3.

Seeds

2–4 mm, shiny and smooth;

elaiosome 1–2 mm.

(1–)3, 2–3 mm, shiny and smooth;

elaiosome 1 mm.

2n

= 16, 24, 25, 26, 27, 36, 38.

= 12, 24, 36.

Claytonia caroliniana

Claytonia sibirica

Phenology Flowering Mar–Jun. Flowering Feb–Aug.
Habitat Wetlands and riparian hardwood forests Thickets of red alder, dogwood, vine-leaf maple, moist shaded coniferous forests
Elevation 0-1400 m (0-4600 ft) 0-2000 m (0-6600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CT; GA; IA; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; NC; NH; NY; PA; TN; VA; VT; WI; WV; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; CA; ID; MT; OR; WA; BC; Eurasia (Russia)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 467. FNA vol. 4, p. 474.
Parent taxa Portulacaceae > Claytonia Portulacaceae > Claytonia
Sibling taxa
C. acutifolia, C. arctica, C. arenicola, C. cordifolia, C. exigua, C. gypsophiloides, C. lanceolata, C. megarhiza, C. multiscapa, C. nevadensis, C. ogilviensis, C. palustris, C. parviflora, C. perfoliata, C. rosea, C. rubra, C. sarmentosa, C. saxosa, C. scammaniana, C. sibirica, C. tuberosa, C. umbellata, C. virginica, C. washingtoniana
C. acutifolia, C. arctica, C. arenicola, C. caroliniana, C. cordifolia, C. exigua, C. gypsophiloides, C. lanceolata, C. megarhiza, C. multiscapa, C. nevadensis, C. ogilviensis, C. palustris, C. parviflora, C. perfoliata, C. rosea, C. rubra, C. sarmentosa, C. saxosa, C. scammaniana, C. tuberosa, C. umbellata, C. virginica, C. washingtoniana
Synonyms C. caroliniana var. lewisii, C. caroliniana var. spatulifolia Montia sibirica, Montia sibirica var. bulbifera, Montia sibirica var. heterophylla
Name authority Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 160. (1803) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 204. (1753)
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