Miner's Lettuce "Winter Purslane" (Claytonia perfoliata) Organic Seeds – Mild Succulent Salad Green, Shade-Loving, Cold-Hardy Cool-Season Crop

Minimum: 100+ Seeds

Miner's Lettuce "Winter Purslane" — The Green That Fed a Gold Rush

California gold miners survived on this plant when scurvy threatened entire camps, and the name stuck. Miner's Lettuce grows a succulent, round leaf pierced through the center by its own flower stalk, a shape so distinctive it's unmistakable in the wild or garden. It thrives in shade and cold where most greens fail, self-seeding into a reliable cool-season patch. The flavor is mild and slightly juicy, closer to spinach than lettuce. This is one of the few genuinely useful native foraging plants that also makes an easy crop.

Who Grows Miner's Lettuce?
The shade gardener needing a real salad green for beds that get little sun.
The cold-climate grower wanting fresh greens through winter and spring.
The forager bringing a wild native plant into a cultivated bed.
The permaculture gardener who likes a self-seeding, low-effort patch.
The salad lover after something milder and juicier than standard lettuce.

What This Shade-Loving Salad Green Actually Is
Claytonia perfoliata, also called winter purslane or Indian lettuce, is native to western North America and naturalized in parts of Europe, where it is grown as a specialty salad crop. Its most recognizable feature is a round, cup-shaped leaf that the flower stalk pierces through the center, giving each mature leaf a disc shape with small white flowers rising from the middle. Plants form low, spreading rosettes 4 to 8 inches tall, succulent and tender throughout. The whole plant is edible, leaves, stems, and flowers, with a mild, tangy flavor and a texture closer to baby spinach than lettuce. It was historically eaten by California miners to prevent scurvy, given its high vitamin C content. Grown as a cool-season annual, thriving in cold and shade where most greens struggle; hardy well below freezing.

In the Kitchen & Garden

• Raw salad green: Toss whole young leaves with a light vinaigrette; pairs well with citrus and nuts.
• Cooked green: Wilt briefly like spinach for a tender, mild side dish.
• Foraged garnish: Use the pierced-leaf shape as an edible garnish.
• Shade bed filler: Plant under trees or the north side of structures where little else thrives.
• Winter cold frame crop: Grow under cover through winter for continuous greens in cold climates.
• Self-seeding patch: Let a section go to seed for a returning crop with no replanting needed.

Growing Miner's Lettuce Seeds

• Start method: Direct sow outdoors; transplants poorly due to a fine taproot.
• Timing: Sow in early fall for a winter and spring crop, or early spring before heat.
• Germination: Sprouts in 7-14 days in cool soil.
• Soil temperature: Best 50-65°F; struggles in summer heat.
• Spacing: Broadcast or sow thinly, thinning to 4-6 inches.
• Sunlight: Partial to full shade; tolerates more shade than nearly any salad green.
• Soil: Moist, rich soil preferred; tolerates a range of soil types.
• Watering: Consistent moisture; succulent leaves suffer in dry spells.
• Bolting: Bolts quickly in heat; plan for cool-season growth only.
• Harvest: Cut young rosettes or pick individual leaves continuously.
• Self-seeding: Reseeds readily once established, often returning unplanted.
• Hardiness: Cold-hardy well below freezing; thrives through winter in mild climates.

Before You Close This Page
This is the plant that kept Gold Rush miners alive through scurvy season. Miner's Lettuce grows where nothing else will, thriving in shade and cold that stop most salad greens cold. Its round, flower-pierced leaves are as recognizable as they are edible, mild and succulent raw or cooked. It self-seeds readily, returning year after year with no effort. Sow it in fall or early spring, keep it moist and shaded, and harvest through the coldest months. This is a genuinely useful wild plant that earns a place in any shade garden.