_Claytonia virginica_
_Flowers_--White veined with pink, or all pink, the veinings of deeper
shade, on curving, slender pedicels, several borne in a terminal loose
raceme, the flowers mostly turned one way (secund). Calyx of 2 ovate
sepals; corolla of 5 petals slightly united by their bases; 5 stamens,
1 inserted on base of each petal; the style 3-cleft. _Stem:_ Weak, 6 to
12 in. long, from a deep, tuberous root. _Leaves:_ Opposite above,
linear to lance-shaped, shorter than basal ones, which are 3 to 7 in.,
long; breadth variable.
_Preferred Habitat_--Moist woods, open groves, low meadows.
_Flowering Season_--March-May.
_Distribution_--Nova Scotia and far westward, south to Georgia
and Texas.
Very early in the spring a race is run with the hepatica, arbutus,
adder’s tongue, bloodroot, squirrel corn, and anemone for the honor of
being the earliest wild flower; and although John Burroughs and Doctor
Abbot have had the exceptional experience of finding the claytonia even
before the hepatica--certainly the earliest spring blossom worthy the
name in the Middle and New England states--of course the rank Skunk
Cabbage, whose name is snobbishly excluded from the list of fair
competitors, has quietly opened dozens of minute florets in its incurved
horn before the others have even started.