Claytonia caroliniana var. caroliniana

Native

Minnesota special concern species

Moderate moisture. Woods. Dappled sunlight.

April to June

White or pinkish with fine pink stripes

3″ to 6″

This is a 3″ to 6″ tall, erect, perennial forb that rises on 1 to a few stems from a rounded, vertical, thickened corm. This is a spring ephemeral.

The stems are hairless and light green or reddish green.

There are 6 to 21 basal leaves rising on long leaf stalks. The blades are egg-shaped or spatula-shaped. The stem has a single pair of opposite leaves. They are hairless and on stalks that are clearly distinct from the leaf blades. The blades are egg-shaped or spatula-shaped, 13 ⁄16″ to 4⅓″ long but usually no longer than 2⅓″, and ⅜″ to 13 ⁄16″ wide but usually no wider than ⅔″. All of the leaves are 3 to 8 times as long as wide.

The inflorescence is an unbranched, elongated, loose cluster at the end of the stem, with several flowers on slender flower stalks.

The flowers are fragrant and ⅜″ to ½″ in diameter. They have 5 petals that are white or pinkish with fine pink stripes. There are only 2 sepals beneath the petals. On sunny days the flowers open and the stems become erect. On cloudy days and at night the buds remain closed and the stalks droop.

The fruit is an egg-shaped capsule with several seeds.

Virginia spring beauty (Claytonia virginica var. virginica) has linear leaves that are at least 8 times as long as wide. The stem leaves are stalkless or on short stalks that are not clearly differentiated from the leaf. It is far more common in eastern Minnesota.