Claytonia perfoliata
LETTUCE-MINERS is a cool-weather salad green with small plants that prefer to grow autumn through spring, and/or in part-shade, & will regrow after multiple harvests. Miner’s lettuce, a wild green superfood. Almost heart-shaped leaves grow in pairs to 2.5-5 cm wide. Satisfying succulent texture with a sweet mild flavor. Miners used to eat the plant as salad greens, as well as the edible blossoms and stems of the plant. All these portions of the can are eaten either raw or cooked & are a great source of vitamin C. The common name refers to its history of being eaten by miners in the 1840’s California Gold Rush to help prevent scurvy. Most frequently eaten raw but can also be cooked. If you don’t harvest it all, it will self-seed readily. A single salad of miner’s lettuce can provide up to a 1/3 of your daily vitamin C, 1/5 of your daily vitamin A, and a 10th of your daily iron. Aka, Indian Lettuce, Winter Purslane, Spring Beauty.