Spring-beauty is a herbaceous perennial wildflower in the Montiaceae family, native to the eastern United States and typically found in moist woodland areas. It is a low growing plant, rising to 9 inches at maturity, with groups of light pink or white flowers that sport dark pink stripes. The flowers open on sunny days and close at night and on cloudy days.The leaves are narrow and resemble grass. The leaves disappear in late spring when the plant becomes dormant.The genus name honors John Clayton (1686-1773), a colonial Virginia botanist and the species name means of Virginia. This plant prefers full sun or partial shade in moist, organically rich, humusy soils with good drainage. It tolerates a variety of soil types and spreads easily. It can be naturalized by bulb offsets or self-seeding in meadows, woodlands or even the yard and used in rock gardens and native wildflower gardens. For best results, plant corms 3 inches deep and space them 3 inches apart in the fall. The small, potato-like, underground corms are edible with a chestnut-like flavor. When selecting a site for the plants, consider the post-bloom dormancy. Diseases, Insect Pests, and Other Plant Problems: No serious diseases or insect pests.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Dappled Sunlight (Shade through upper canopy all day) | Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
High Organic Matter; Loam (Silt)
Soil pH
Acid (<6.0)
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Moist
Available space
Less than 12 inches
NC region
Coastal; Mountains; Piedmont
Mature size
Height: 0 ft. 6 in. - 0 ft. 9 in. | Width: 0 ft. 6 in. - 0 ft. 9 in.
Growth rate
Medium
Maintenance
High
Canopy layer
5 - Groundcover (<1 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Clumping; Spreading
Texture
Fine
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Opposite
Leaf shape
Lanceolate; Linear
Leaf margin
Entire
Leaf feel
Smooth
Leaf size
> 6 inches long, < 1 inch wide
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Leaves are grass-like and linear to linear-lanceolate occurring in pairs on the stem with a few basilar leaves. They may reach 6-12 inches long before going dormant and are around 0.5 inches wide.
Flower color
Pink; White
Flower value
Fragrant; Showy
Flower form
Raceme
Flower shape
Star
Flower size
< 1 inch
Flower detail
Five petaled white to pink with dark pink stripes in loose clusters bloom in April at the top of the 4 to 6 inch thin stems. Individual flowers are 1/3 inch across with 2 green sepals and 5 stamens with pink anthers.
Bloom time
Spring
Fruit type
Capsule
Fruit size
< 1 inch long, < 1 inch wide
Fruit detail
Oval capsule with seeds is enclosed by the 2 persistent sepals. Occurs March to May.
Stem color
Green; Red/Burgundy
Stem detail
Light green or reddish green, glabrous, and rather succulent.
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Native
Origin
Southeastern Canada, central and eastern U.S.A.
Distribution
Ontario Canada south to Georgia, west to Texas and the Mississippi River.
Wildlife value
This plant attracts bees, pollinators, and mammals. The Andrena erigeniae bee takes pollen only from this plant.
Attracts
Bees; Pollinators; Small Mammals
Food & Medicine
Edible parts
Nuts; Tubers
Harvest time
Spring
Fruit type
Capsule
Edibility
Underground tubers have a sweet chestnut flavor.
Uses (ethnobotany)
Native Americans and settlers used the tubers as a food source.
Landscape Use
Landscape location
Lawn; Meadow; Naturalized Area; Pond; Woodland
Landscape theme
Edible Garden; Native Garden; Pollinator Garden; Rock Garden