Synonyms: Claytonia media, Claytonia virginica var. acutiflora, Spring Beauty, Spring-Beauty.
Linnaeus gave this plant its genus name, Claytonia, to honor John Clayton (1694-1773), an early Virginia botanist. Clayton was the author of Flora Virginica, which was last updated in 1762. A modern version of the “flora” was published 250 years later, as the Flora of Virginia, by Weakley, et al. (2012).
Virginia Springbeauty is a common and widespread, primarily woodland, plant that blooms in spring. It is a true spring ephemeral, in that all of its above-ground parts senesce and disappear by late spring, when the leaf canopy begins to fill in and shade the forest floor. Energy that the plants produce by photosynthesis in the spring is stored in small, underground corms. This energy powers the next spring’s burst of above-ground growth. Springbeauties that are in flower have two leaves, whereas immature plants have only one leaf and do not flower. The blooming period lasts about 1-2 months. Springbeauty is one of the first wildflowers to bloom in spring and is pollinated by insects.
Woodland areas.
Important food source for many pollinators, including the Spring Beauty Miner Bee
Host to Spring Beauty Rust.
The seeds have structures called elaiosomes, which are attractive to ants. Ants carry the seeds to their nests and thereby disperse them.
There are 1,415 records in the project database.
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