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Popular Studies of California Wild Flowers 



"And, oh, my heart has understood 

 The spider's fragile line of lace, 

 The common meed, the zvoody place!" 



GALE. 



Miner's Lettuce (Purslane Family) 



By Bertha M. Rice 



One of the plants which the miners in the days of "Forty-nine" 

 learned to regard with favor is the one now known as "Miner's 

 Lettuce" (Montia perfoliata). It was known as Squaw's Cabbage 

 or Indian's Lettuce to those hardy pioneers, who were tempted to 

 try it as a substitute for the more familiar cultivated vegetables 

 which were not to be had in the wilderness. It was noticed that 

 the Indians were exceedingly fond of these succulent plants, which 

 they used both green as salads and boiled like greens or spinach. 

 The wild people had one quaint way of seasoning these plants as 

 related by Stephen Powers. They gathered the tender stems and 

 leaves in quantities and placed them on the red-ant hills ; the ants 

 swarmed over the plants, and when the Indian was satisfied that 

 these insects had sufficiently seasoned his salad with the vinegar 

 flavor of the formic acid, he shook them off. 



Miner's Lettuce is an annual plant from six to twelve inches 

 high. There are probably a dozen varieties and one very minute 

 form. It is variable in appearance and is widely distributed through- 

 out the State. It is a member of the Purslane Family, closely re- 

 lated to the Red Maids (one of the popular spring flowers) and 

 the Pussy Paws (a common plant in the Yosemite Valley and else- 

 where in the Sierras at high and low elevations), and is also related 

 to the Spring Beauty, several varieties of which are to be found in 



