Claytonia lanceolata var. lanceolata
Lanceleaf Springbeauty

Family: Portulacaceae (Purslane family)

Photo taken at Leavenworth Ski Hill, wooded forest floor and open hillsides; one of the first flowers to bloom in spring

Flowers:

racemose; white to deep pink in color, many with darker pink lines on the petals; sepals 3-5 mm; 5 petals 5-12 cm

Seed:

black and shiny

Leaves:

1 to several flower stems with a pair of opposite leaves below the raceme; leaves lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, mostly less than 5 times as long as broad

Plant:

perennial; erect; usually 5-15 cm tall. Traditionally the corms were cooked and eaten or stored underground for future use by the Okanagon-Colville, Okanagon, and Thompson.

Habitat:

sagebrush foothills to alpine slopes

Distribution of species:

British Columbia to California, both sides of the Cascades, east to New Mexico

Distribution of genus:

28 species: North America and East Asia