This section is from the book "The Standard Cyclopedia Of Horticulture Vol2", by L. H. Bailey. See also: Western Garden Book: More than 8,000 Plants - The Right Plants for Your Climate - Tips from Western Garden Experts.
(after John Clayton, of Virginia, one of the earliest American botanists upon whose collections Gronovius based the Flora Virginica). Portulacaceae. Spring Beauty. Little smooth succulent herbs sometimes transferred to gardens for their bright flowers.
Perennials with slender, 2-1 vd. stems from a deep, globular corm, and loose racemes of white or rose-colored flowers with deeper veins, appearing among the first wild flowers and lasting only a few days. The genus is characterized by its oval, persistent sepals and 5 stamens. Plants can be secured from dealers in native plants. They can be naturalized in moist places, and do well in half-shady spots at the bottom of a rockery. For C. parvifolia, C. parviflora and C. perfoliata, see Montia.
Linn. Plant 4-8 in. long, often forcing an irregular way through the leaf-mold of damp, rich woods: leaves linear-lanceolate or linear, 2-6 in. long, including the gradually tapering base: flowers larger and more numerous than in C. caroliniana, whitish, tinged with pinkish. Colo, to Atlantic and south to Gulf. B.M. 941. L.B.C. 7:643.
Michx. Lower and fewer-fid.: leaves 1-2 in. long, oblong, oblong-lanceolate, somewhat spat-ulate, or even ovate-lanceolate, with a blade 1-2 in. long, abruptly contracted into a marginal petiole: flowers smaller than in the preceding and more deeply colored. Minn, to Atlantic and south to mts. of N. C. - Should be grown only in cool places above 1,000 ft.
Pursh. About 4 in. high: leaves oblong or lanceolate, 1/2-1 1/2 in. long, the base broad or narrow; petiole as long as the blade: raceme short-peduncled; petals emarginate or almost obcordate. N. W. N. Amer. - Considered by some to be a mere form of the preceding. Wilhelm Miller.
N. Taylor.†
 
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