Miner's lettuce,
Claytonia perfoliata, is a small
succulent green
plant that grows in cool moist shady spots. It is
edible - and very good, crunchy like nice
lettuce. It got the name miner's lettuce from the
California gold rush days, when mountain
miners often ate it to cure
scurvy.
Miner's lettuce is in the Portulacaceae family, related to
Portulaca and
purslane.
It's easy to find and to identify, and grows everywhere in the California mountains as a common weed. When it's young, the leaves are triangular or spade shaped -- one leaf per stem, coming up from a central rosette of stems. Later, the leaves turn round like little lily pads, with a tiny white flower in the center. It tastes good raw.