Candy Flower is a charming native groundcover plant with white to pink flowers with semi-succulent leaves that are tender, plump, and juicy!
Claytonia sibirica
Candy Flower
Description:
Spreading to erect, with stolons (horizontal stems that help plants spread and reproduce asexually) that sometimes form new plants.
Stems are few to several and the foliage color varies from green to bronze.
Leaves at the base are egg-shaped, with long petioles; stem leaves are opposite, and heart-shaped
Flowers in open clusters of 1 to 3, each cluster with a small elliptical bract (a leaf extending from the base of the flower). Petals are 1/4 to 1/2 inch and white with pink pencil markings
Grows in moist places in forests, streambanks, along coast and to mid-elevations. At upper elevations, it grows in shaded swamps, seeps, and wet meadows, enjoys cool, shady habitats!
Is similar Claytonia cordifolia, which has no bracts below the inflorescence and has white flowers without pencil markings
Is related to the plant, Miner’s lettuce, (Claytonia perfoliata), which was a common source of food for miner’s and also used as a tonic for hiker’s on trails. It was known to have a high amount of vitamin C, preventing scurvy!
Rarity: Locally Common
Flowering Time: Mid Spring
Life Cycle: Annual, Perennial
Height: 6 to 14 inches
Habitat: Coastal, Vernal Wet, West-Side Forest, Meadow, East-Side Forest
Found In: Olympic Np, Mt. Rainier Np, N Cascades Np, Wallowas, Columbia Basin, West Gorge, Siskiyous
Native: Yes
Source: Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest
Additional resource: Oregon Flora Project