Photograph courtesy of Univ. of Georgia Herbarium. Copyright Dept.
of Botany, Univ. of Georgia,
Common Names:
Spring Beauty, Carolina Spring Beauty, Wild Potatoes, Good Morning
Spring and Tangle Gut
Taxonomy:
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Portulacaceae
Genus: Claytonia
Species: Caroliniana
Identification and General Description:
Height: 6-12 in. (15-30 cm)
Root: tuberous, perennial
Stem: herbaceous, erect, 6-10 in. (15-25 cm) high,
terete, glaborous, and simple
Leaves: two, opposite, generally linear, entire,glaborous,
connate, 2-8 in. (5-20 cm) long, 2-4 in. (5-10 cm) wide
Flowers: 4-18 in. (10-45 cm), arranged in a simple
raceme
Petals: oval, obtuse, striate, white to rose colored
with dark rose veins
Seed: somewhat lenticular, black, 1-2 per valve,
attached to a central receptacle
Habitat and Range:
Habitat: wide variety of habitats, praries, lawns,
and disturbed sites, but moist woodland, thickets and clearings preferred.
Range: Ontario to Quebec and Southern New England;
south to Georgia; west to Louisana and Texas; North to Minnesota
AREA |
STATUS |
REFERENCES |
North America:
Continental United States; Canada |
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Eastern North America:
Ontario to Quebec and southern New England; south to Georgia; west to Louisiana and Texas |
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Eastern United States:
AL,AR,GA,KY,MD,NC,SC,TN,VA,WV,MN,OH, IN,LA,MS |
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Southern Appalachian States:
AL,GA,KY,MD,NC,SC,TN,VA,WV |
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Blue Ridge Mountains |
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Great Smoky Mountain National Park |
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Georgia |
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Clarke County, Georgia |
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Geography and Natural History:
Probably the most abundant of spring flowers throughout its range is
the Spring Beauty. It is one of the first flowers to appear in the
spring. In its southern range it begins blooming in late February
and continues to bloom for about two months. The Spring Beauty is
a member of the Portulacaceae Family, therefore it has long fleshy leaves
and a central stem that bears flower buds. Each flower opens for
about three days. The first day the pink anthers open and shed their
pollen. Robertson, in Flowers and Insects, lists103 species of bees,
flies, butterflies and beetles that gather Spring Beauty pollen and help
distribute it. Two features that some list as ways that Spring Beaty
stands out to insects are its petals are pink to white with darker pink
veins that some entomologists say attract isects and according to Schemske,
in "Flowering Ecology of Some Spring Woodland Herbs," found that filaments
located in the stamens reflect ultraviolet light. The flowers open
up in sunlight, but close in even the briefest sunless moments such as
when the sun is behind clouds. The second day the flower opens the
anthers are already out of pollen and have withered. On the third
day the flower opens for one last hope of being pollenated, after witch
the petals wilt and seeds begin to form in the ovary.
Links:
High
resolution photo of C. caroliniana
References:
1. Chapman, W.K., Chapman, V.A., Bessette, A.E. and A.R., and
Pens, D.R. 1998. Wildflowers Of New York. Syracuse University
Press. Syracuse, NY.
2. Wells, B.W. 1932. The Natural Gardens of North
Carolina. The University of North Carolina Press. Chapel Hill,
NC.
3. Core, E.L. 1952-1964. Flora of West Virginia.
West Virginia University Bulletin. Morgantown, WV.
4. Elliott, Stephen. 1971. A Sketch of the Botony
of South Carolina and Georgia. Hafner Publishing Company. New
York, Ny.
5. Core, E.L. 1955. Plant Taxonomy. Prentice-Hall,
Inc. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
6. Gupton, O.W. and Swope, Fred C., 1979. Wildflowers of
the Shenandoah Valley & Blue Ridge Mountains. University Press
of Virginia. Charlottesville, VA.
7. Gronovius, J.F. 1946. Flora Virginica. The Murray
Printing Company, Cambridge, Mass.
8. Niering, William A. and Olmstead, Nancy C. 1979.
The Audobon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers. Random
House, Inc., New York.
9. Robertson, Charles. 1889. Flowers and Insects
III. Botanical Gazette 14:297-304.
10. Schemske, D.W., M.F. Willson, M.N. Melampy, L.J. Miller,
L. Verner, K.M. Schmeske, and L.B. Best. 1978. Flowering Ecology
of some Spring Woodland Herbs. Ecology 59:351-366.