FAMILY:  Portulacaease

HABITAT:  Rich Woodlands, Wooded Flood Plains

GROWING SEASON:  March through May

PLANT SIZE:  6 to 12 inches tall

SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERISTICS:  The Spring Beauty has 5 petals that are 0.5 to 0.8 inches long.  The petals are pink and white.  The plant sometimes leans.  The spring beauty grows from 5 to 20 weeks.  They have two leaves that are opposite to one another and grass like. The spring beauty can have 15 flowers on one plant.  It smells good and is easy to grow.  Bee and butterflies pollinate the  flowers.

USES:  Trail nibble, chop a few in a green salad.  The Indians use to eat the spring beauty.  They didn't use the spring beauty very much.  They only used it when they desperately needed it.  If they used something they would replant it.  Also, deer, elk, moose, and other animals eat it.  The roots are edible.  They say that the roots taste like radishes.  When the spring beauty is boiled or baked it tastes like baked potatoes.