Distribution - Nova Scotia and far westward, south to Georgia and
Texas.

Dainty clusters of these delicate, starry blossoms, mostly turned
in one direction, expand in the sunshine only, like their gaudy
cousin the portulaca and the insignificant little yellow flowers
of another relative, the ubiquitous, invincible "pussley"
immortalized in "My Summer in a Garden." At night and during
cloudy, stormy weather, when their benefactors are not flying,
the claytonias economically close their petals to protect nectar
and pollen from rain and pilferers. Pick them, the whole plant
droops, and the blossoms close with indignation; nor will any
coaxing but a combination of hot water and sunshine induce them
to open again. Theirs is a long beauty sleep. They are
supersensitive exquisites, however hardy.

Very early in the spring a race is run with the hepatica,
arbutus, adder's tongue, blood-root, squirrel corn, and anemone
for the honor of being the earliest wild flower; and although
John Burroughs and Dr. Abbott 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.

Whether the petals of the spring beauty are white or pink, they
are always exquisitely marked with pink lines converging near the
base and ending in a yellow blotch to serve as pathfinders for