[4] Early 20th-century rust authority Joseph Charles Arthur considered Uromyces claytoniae to be synonymous with P. mariae-wilsoniae,[5] but this conclusion was rejected in a later publication,[6] and the putative synonymy is recognized by neither of the taxonomic databases Index Fungorum nor MycoBank.

[7][8] The epithet honors Mary L. Wilson, a Buffalo-area botanist who frequently collected specimens for Peck.

[1] The rust grows on all sides of the plant, producing scattered clusters of reddish-brown sori on the surface.

The spores produced by the aecia (aeciospores) are hyaline (translucent), covered with minute warts, and measure 18–27 by 14–20 μm.

[4] The rust grows on the leaves and stems of plants in the Portulacaceae family, including the Carolina spring beauty (Claytonia caroliniana), the Virginia spring beauty or fairy spud (C. virginica),[4] and the lanceleaf springbeauty (Claytonia lanceolata).