4.
Claytonia caroliniana
Michaux, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 160. 1803.
Carolina spring beauty
Claytonia caroliniana
var.
lewisii
McNeill;
C. caroliniana
var.
spatulifolia
(Salisbury) W. H. Lewis
Plants
perennial, with globose tubers 10-20 mm diam.; periderm 1-5 mm.
Stems
6-25 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.
Inflorescences
1-bracteate (rarely with 2 bracts).
Flowers
8-12 mm diam.; sepals 3-5 mm; petals white, pink, or candy-striped, 6-10 mm; ovules 6.
Seeds
2-4 mm, shiny and smooth; elaiosome 1-2 mm.
2
n
= 16, 24, 25, 26, 27, 36, 38.
Flowering Mar-Jun. Wetlands and riparian hardwood forests; 0-1400 m; N.B., Nfld. and Labr. (Nfld.), N.S., Ont., P.E.I., Que.; Conn., Ga., Iowa, Ky., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., N.H., N.Y., N.C., Pa., Tenn., Vt., Va., W.Va., Wis.
