April wildflowers: Spring beauty (Claytonia caroliniana)

 

This tiny forest floor flower was named after John Clayton, a botanist in Virginia in the early 1700s. Commonly, and rather appropriately if you ask me, this spring bloom is commonly called spring beauty.

Before receiving this name, this wildflower was likely known by some other name to local indigenous groups who may have harvested its tuberous starchy roots for a springtime snack.