Claytonia perfoliata, miner's-lettuce
Matthews, Robin F. 1993. Claytonia perfoliata, miner's-lettuce. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/species-reviews/claper
| Abbreviation | Common Name | Scientific Name | Classification | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plants | ||||
| CLAPER | miner's-lettuce | Claytonia perfoliata | Life Form: Plants/Forb Kingdom: Plantae Class: Dicot Order: Caryophyllales Family: Portulacaceae Genus: Claytonia | Fed. Protected: No Nativity: Native Invasiveness: Noninvasive |
Revisions: Information on the postfire response after the 2013 Rim Fire was added on 23 March 2015.
Revisions: Information on the postfire response after the 2013 Rim Fire was added on 23 March 2015.
Taxonomy
The currently accepted scientific name of miner's-lettuce is Claytonia perfoliata Donn. (Portulacaceae) [35,38,44]. The Claytonia perfoliata complex is a polyploid group of considerable complexity, with several subspecies and many ecotypes [39,40]. The following subspecies are recognized:
- Claytonia perfoliata subsp. perfoliata [35,39]
- Claytonia perfoliata subsp. mexicana (Rydb.) John M. Miller & Chambers [35,38]
- Claytonia perfoliata subsp. intermontana John M. Mill. & K.L. Chambers [35]
Varieties under the synonym Montia perfoliata are listed in several floras [19,27,35,36,38].
Miner's-lettuce hybridizes with C. parviflora, C. sibirica, and C. rubra [38,40].
Synonyms
- Montia perfoliata (Donn.) Howell [18,22,27,36]
Other Common Names
claspleaf miner's-lettuce, Indian-lettuce
General Distribution
Miner's-lettuce is distributed from British Columbia south to Guatemala and east to North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, and Arizona [17,18,19,22,36,38].
States and Provinces
- United States: AZ CA CO ID MT NV ND OR SD UT WA WY
- Canada: BC
- Mexico
Site Characteristics
Miner's-lettuce usually occurs on moist or vernally moist sites [10,14,18,19,22]. Miller [39] reported it from a variety of substrates including river silt, sand, gravel, road tar, loam, rock crevices, talus, and scree. He also found it on burned sites. Some polyploids occur on specialized, distinctive sites. The Columbia River Gorge octoploid, for example, occurs only on north-facing basalt talus slopes or cliff faces. Other polyploids are more plastic in site requirements [40].
In California, miner's-lettuce is most common below 6,500 feet (2,000 m) [38]; in Arizona it grows at elevations of 2,500 to 7,500 feet (750-2,270 m) [19]; in Utah it grows at elevations of 2,600 to 10,890 feet (800-3,300 m) [36].
Plant Communities
Miner's-lettuce is associated with bigcone Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga macrocarpa), interior live oak (Quercus wislizeni), and Coulter pine (Pinus coulteri) [40]. See the Appendix for plant communities and cover types in which this species may occur.
Botanical Description
Miner's-lettuce is a native winter or spring annual. It is branched from the base with stems growing up to 14 inches (35 cm) tall. Leaves are mostly basal, simple, and 2.4 to 8.0 inches (6-20 cm) long, including the stalk. Miner's-lettuce has two stem leaves that fuse to form a disc just below the flower stalk. The elongate stalk bears numerous small flowers. Fruits are tiny, three-valved capsules containing one to three seeds. Roots are fibrous [11,22,27,36].
Raunkiaer Life Form (Raunkiaer 1934)
- Therophyte
Seasonal Development
Time from germination to flowering varied from 33 to 90 days in a Columbia River Gorge population [39]. Miner's-lettuce flowers from February to May in Arizona and California [19,27]. In Utah, it flowers from June to July [1].
Regeneration Processes
Miner's-lettuce reproduces by seed [24,33,34]. Selfing is the most common method of pollination, but insect pollination also occurs. Seeds are dispersed by explosive dehiscence. They are capable of immediate germination [39].
Successional Status
Miner's-lettuce occurs in all seral stages. It often colonizes disturbed sites, particularly following fire [22,24]. Miner's lettuce is also found on virgin fields dominated by bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata) and Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda) in southeastern Washington [8]. However, miner's-lettuce is shade tolerant [22,26,27] and is more prominent under a canopy than in openings in oak savanna, western white pine (Pinus monticola), and antelope bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata) communities [3,23,26].
Immediate Fire Effects
Miner's-lettuce is probably killed by fire.
Postfire Regeneration Strategy (Stickney 1989)
- Ground residual colonizer (on-site, initial community)
- Secondary colonizer - on-site seed
Fire Adaptations
Miner's-lettuce has long-lived seeds that are stored in the soil [33] and germinate following fire [34]. It is a prolific seeder [24]; mass flowering in the years immediately following a fire recharges the seed bank [33]. Miner's-lettuce can develop high cover on exposed soil in full sun [31].
Plant Response to Fire
Miner's-lettuce was present in the first growing season after the stand-destroying Marble-Cone wildfire in the Santa Lucia Range of California in August 1977. Peak cover was reached in postfire year 2 and declined by postfire year 3. Percent frequency of miner's-lettuce on two study sites that had been dominated by Coulter pine follows [16]:
| Site | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chews Ridge site 1 | 9 | 36 | 8 |
| Chews Ridge site 2 | 7 | 48 | 2 |
Miner's-lettuce is common in recently burned chaparral [20]. A year after a fire in chaparral in the Sierra Nevada foothills, miner's-lettuce had high seed production on moist north-east slopes. Postfire cover quickly exceeded prefire levels [24]. Miner's-lettuce was also present the year following a severe fire in a chaparral riparian zone in the Los Padres National Forest, California, but its frequency was reduced by postfire year 2 [9].
Miner's lettuce was common the 2nd postfire growing season after the 2013 Rim Wildfire on the Stanislaus National Forest, California. It formed a lawn on the ground layer of some mesic to wet sites (Fryer 2015 personal observation).
Miner's lettuce ground layer on the Stanislaus National Forest, 15 months after the 2013 Rim Fire.
Miner's lettuce ground layer on the Stanislaus National Forest, 15 months after the 2013 Rim Fire. Photo by Becky Howard. Miner's-lettuce is also common after fire in more northern portions of its range. It was present in the first growing season after a fall wildfire in ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) stands in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, Idaho, and had increased in frequency by postfire year 3 [25]. In burned ponderosa pine shelterwood cut units in Idaho, miner's-lettuce was present in postfire year 1 on sites burned with dry fuels, but was not present on sites burned with moist fuels. It also was not present in the prefire vegetation or in unburned control plots [30]. Miner's-lettuce was present in the first growing season following the stand-destroying Pattee Canyon wildfire in a Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)/ninebark (Physocarpus malvaceus) habitat type in west-central Montana [7]. It was still present in the herbaceous layer 10 years later [34].
On ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir communities in the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon, miner's-lettuce cover and frequency were higher on sites that had been burned 4 years previously than on thinned, thinned and burned, or unburned control sites. Miner's-lettuce was determined to be an indicator species for thinned sites (P≤0.05). For further information on the effects of thinning and burning treatments on miner's-lettuce and 48 other species, see the Research Project Summary of Youngblood and others' [45] study.
A basin big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata spp. tridentata)-Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis)-bluebunch wheatgrass community at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in east-central Oregon was burned in the spring and fall. Although not in the prefire vegetation, miner's-lettuce was present in trace amounts (less than 2% frequency) the summer after the fall prescribed fire. It was not present after the spring fire or in control plots [29]. See the Research Project Summary of this study for more information on fire effects on miner's-lettuce and 60 additional forbs, grasses, and woody plant species.
Miner's-lettuce establishes after fire in disturbed and climax grasslands in southeastern Washington [8].
The Research Project Summary Vegetation response to restoration treatments in ponderosa pine-Douglas-fir forests of western Montana provides information on prescribed fire and postfire response of plant community species including miner's-lettuce.
Fire Regimes
For fire regime information, search FEIS for this species by entering the species name or acronym on the home page and selecting “Fire Regime” as the publication type.
Fire Management Considerations
Rapid growth of miner's-lettuce after fire in chaparral in the Sierra Nevada foothills contributes to an increased food supply for flocking bird species such as mourning dove and western meadowlark [24].
Federal Status
None
Other Status
No entry.
Importance to Wildlife and Livestock
Miner's-lettuce is preferred by cattle in blue oak (Quercus douglasii) savannas in California [5]. It is also grazed by pocket gophers [6]. Mourning doves, California quail, and other seed-eating birds consume the fruits [24,41].
Palatability and Nutritional Value
The nutritional composition of miner's-lettuce has been determined to be 37.1 percent protein, 42.5 percent total carbohydrate, and 12.4 percent crude fiber. The calcium:phosphorus ratio is 0.66:1.0 [37].
Cover Value
No entry.
Value for Rehabilitation or Restoration of Disturbed Sites
No entry.
Other Uses
The blossoms, leaves, and stems of miner's-lettuce may be eaten by humans at any time during the growing season. They are eaten raw or cooked, and are a good source of vitamin C [11,37]. Historically, miner's-lettuce was used as a salad plant and potherb by white settlers and Native Americans [19]. It was also used to avert or cure scurvy [37].
Other Management Considerations
In California, density and overall yield of miner's-lettuce is greater in bracken fern communities than in surrounding grasslands [14,15]. This may be due to increased moisture availability in winter and early spring, when bracken fern is dormant [14].
Miner's-lettuce is a host to the beet western yellows virus, which is spread by aphids [43].
Purslane sawfly larvae, which consume the seeds, afford some biological control over miner's lettuce [42,43].
Table A1— Forest and range ecosystems, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) physiographic regions, Kuchler plant associations, Society for American Foresters (SAF) forest cover types, and Society for Rangeland Management (SRM) rangeland cover types in which this species occurs.
Forest and Range Ecosystems (Garrison et al. 1977)
- FRES20 Douglas-fir
- FRES21 Ponderosa pine
- FRES22 Western white pine
- FRES23 Fir – spruce
- FRES27 Redwood
- FRES28 Western hardwoods
- FRES29 Sagebrush
- FRES30 Desert shrub
- FRES34 Chaparral - mountain shrub
- FRES35 Pinyon – juniper
- FRES36 Mountain grasslands
- FRES37 Mountain meadows
- FRES42 Annual grasslands
BLM Physiographic Regions (Bernard and Brown 1977)
- 1 Northern Pacific Border
- 2 Cascade Mountains
- 3 Southern Pacific Border
- 4 Sierra Mountains
- 5 Columbia Plateau
- 6 Upper Basin and Range
- 7 Lower Basin and Range
- 8 Northern Rocky Mountains
- 9 Middle Rocky Mountains
- 10 Wyoming Basin
- 11 Southern Rocky Mountains
- 12 Colorado Plateau
- 15 Black Hills Uplift
- 16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
Kuchler Plant Associations (Kuchler 1964)
- K001 Spruce - cedar - hemlock forest
- K002 Cedar - hemlock - Douglas-fir forest
- K005 Mixed conifer forest
- K006 Redwood forest
- K007 Red fir forest
- K009 Pine - cypress forest
- K010 Ponderosa shrub forest
- K011 Western ponderosa forest
- K012 Douglas-fir forest
- K013 Cedar - hemlock - pine forest
- K015 Western spruce - fir forest
- K016 Eastern ponderosa forest
- K017 Black Hills pine forest
- K018 Pine - Douglas-fir forest
- K019 Arizona pine forest
- K020 Spruce - fir - Douglas-fir forest
- K023 Juniper - pinyon woodland
- K024 Juniper steppe woodland
- K025 Alder - ash forest
- K026 Oregon oakwoods
- K028 Mosaic of K002 and K026
- K029 California mixed evergreen forest
- K030 California oakwoods
- K033 Chaparral
- K034 Montane chaparral
- K035 Coastal sagebrush
- K037 Mountain-mahogany - oak scrub
- K038 Great Basin sagebrush
- K039 Blackbrush
- K041 Creosotebush
- K048 California steppe
- K051 Wheatgrass – bluegrass
- K055 Sagebrush steppe
SAF Cover Types (Eyre 1980)
- 206 Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir
- 207 Red fir
- 210 Interior Douglas-fir
- 211 White fir
- 213 Grand fir
- 215 Western white pine
- 217 Aspen
- 221 Red alder
- 222 Black cottonwood – willow
- 224 Western hemlock
- 229 Pacific Douglas-fir
- 230 Douglas-fir - western hemlock
- 232 Redwood
- 233 Oregon white oak
- 234 Douglas-fir - tanoak - Pacific madrone
- 235 Cottonwood – willow
- 237 Interior ponderosa pine
- 238 Western juniper
- 239 Pinyon – juniper
- 243 Sierra Nevada mixed conifer
- 244 Pacific ponderosa pine - Douglas-fir
- 245 Pacific ponderosa pine
- 246 California black oak
- 247 Jeffrey pine
- 248 Knobcone pine
- 249 Canyon live oak
- 250 Blue oak - gray pine
- 255 California coast live oak
SRM Rangeland Cover Types (Shiflet 1994)
- No entry
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