Valerianella locusta | |
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Corn salad is identifiable by its rounded leaf and deep green colour | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Dipsacales |
Family: | Caprifoliaceae |
Genus: | Valeriana |
Species: | V. locusta |
Binomial name | |
Valeriana locusta | |
Synonyms [1] | |
|
Valerianella locusta is a synonym for Valeriana locusta, [1] commonly called mâche, cornsalad, or lamb's lettuce, a small, herbaceous, annual flowering plant in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae. It is native to Europe, western Asia and north Africa, where it is eaten as a leaf vegetable.
Cornsalad grows in a low rosette with spatulate leaves up to 15.2 cm long. [2] It is a hardy plant that grows to zone 5, and in mild climates it is grown as a winter green.
In warm conditions it tends to bolt to seed, [3] producing much-branched stems with clusters (cymes) of flowers. The flowers have a bluish-white corolla of five fused petals, 1.5 to 2 mm (1⁄16 to 5⁄64 in) long and wide, and three stamens. At the base of the corolla is a whorl of bracts. Fertilized flowers produce achenes with two sterile chambers and one fertile chamber. [4] [5] [6]
Cornsalad grows wild in parts of Europe, northern Africa and western Asia. [7] In Europe and Asia it is a common weed in cultivated land and waste spaces. In North America it has escaped cultivation and become naturalized on both the eastern and western seaboards. [8]
As a cultivated crop, it is a specialty of the region around Nantes, France, which is the primary producer of mâche in Europe. [9]
Cornsalad was originally foraged by European peasants. Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie, royal gardener of King Louis XIV, introduced it to kitchen gardening. [10] It has been eaten in Britain for centuries and appears in John Gerard's Herbal of 1597. [11] It was grown commercially in London from the late 18th or early 19th century and appeared on markets as a winter vegetable, but it only became available in modern supermarkets there in the 1980s. [12] American president Thomas Jefferson cultivated mâche at his home, Monticello, in Virginia in the early 1800s. [9]
Common names include lamb's lettuce, common cornsalad, or simply cornsalad, [13] : 831 [14] : 260 [2] [15] mâche [2] ( /mɑːʃ/ ), fetticus, [2] feldsalat, [2] nut lettuce, [2] field salad and valerian salad. The common name 'cornsalad' refers to the fact that it often grows as a weed in cornfields [11] ('corn' is used in the sense of 'cereal', not the US meaning of maize).
In German-speaking Switzerland it is known as Nüsslisalat or Nüssler, terms that have been borrowed by the area's many English speakers. In some areas of Germany it is known as rapunzel, and is the origin of the long-haired maiden's name in the eponymous fairy tale, but see Campanula rapunculus .[ citation needed ] In restaurants that feature French cuisine, it may be called doucette or raiponce, as an alternative to mâche, by which it is best known. [16] In Croatia and Serbia it is known as matovilac. In Slovenia it is known as motovilec.
Cornsalad has a characteristic nutty flavour, dark green colour, and soft texture, and is popularly served as salad greens. [17]
Like other formerly foraged greens, cornsalad has many nutrients, including three times as much vitamin C as lettuce, beta-carotene, B6, iron, and potassium. It is best if gathered before flowers appear. [18]
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) | |
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3.6 g | |
0.4 g | |
2 g | |
Minerals | Quantity %DV† |
Potassium | 15% 459 mg |
Sodium | 0% 4 mg |
†Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults, [19] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies. [20] Source: [ citation needed ] |
Chives, scientific name Allium schoenoprasum, is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae that produces edible leaves and flowers. Their close relatives include the common onions, garlic, shallot, leek, scallion, and Chinese onion.
Parsley, or garden parsley is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to Greece, Morocco and the former Yugoslavia. It has been introduced and naturalized in Europe and elsewhere in the world with suitable climates, and is widely cultivated as a herb, and a vegetable.
Sorrel, also called common sorrel or garden sorrel, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Polygonaceae. Other names for sorrel include spinach dock and narrow-leaved dock.
Lettuce is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds. Lettuce is most often used for salads, although it is also seen in other kinds of food, such as soups, sandwiches and wraps; it can also be grilled. One variety, celtuce, is grown for its stems, which are eaten either raw or cooked. In addition to its main use as a leafy green, it has also gathered religious and medicinal significance over centuries of human consumption. Europe and North America originally dominated the market for lettuce, but by the late 20th century the consumption of lettuce had spread throughout the world. As of 2021, world production of lettuce and chicory was 27 million tonnes, 53 percent of which came from China.
The Caprifoliaceae or honeysuckle family is a clade of dicotyledonous flowering plants consisting of about 860 species, in 33, to 42 genera, with a nearly cosmopolitan distribution. Centres of diversity are found in eastern North America and eastern Asia, while they are absent in tropical and southern Africa.
The parsnip is a root vegetable closely related to carrot and parsley, all belonging to the flowering plant family Apiaceae. It is a biennial plant usually grown as an annual. Its long taproot has cream-colored skin and flesh, and, left in the ground to mature, becomes sweeter in flavor after winter frosts. In its first growing season, the plant has a rosette of pinnate, mid-green leaves. If unharvested, it produces a flowering stem topped by an umbel of small yellow flowers in its second growing season, later producing pale brown, flat, winged seeds. By this time, the stem has become woody, and the tap root inedible. Precautions should be taken when handling the stems and foliage, as parsnip sap can cause a skin rash or even blindness if exposed to sunlight after handling.
The Valerianaceae Batsch, the valerian family, was a family of flowering plants that is now considered part of the Caprifoliaceae. Plants are generally herbaceous, and their foliage often has a strong, disagreeable odor. They are found native in most regions of the world except for Australia. Some species are cultivated as ornamentals or used in herbal medicine for inducing relaxation and sleep.
The cardoon, also called the artichoke thistle, is a thistle in the family Asteraceae. It is a naturally occurring species that also has many cultivated forms, including the globe artichoke. It is native to the Mediterranean region, where it was domesticated in ancient times and still occurs as a wild plant.
Campanula is the type genus of the Campanulaceae family of flowering plants. Campanula are commonly known as bellflowers and take both their common and scientific names from the bell-shaped flowers—campanula is Latin for "little bell".
Tragopogon porrifolius is a plant cultivated for its ornamental flower and edible root. It also grows wild in many places and is one of the most widely known species of the salsify genus, Tragopogon. It is commonly known as purple or common salsify, oyster plant, vegetable oyster, Jerusalem star, Jack go to bed, or simply salsify.
Chenopodium album is a fast-growing annual plant in the flowering plant family Amaranthaceae. Though cultivated in some regions, the plant is elsewhere considered a weed. Common names include lamb's quarters, melde, goosefoot, wild spinach and fat-hen, though the latter two are also applied to other species of the genus Chenopodium, for which reason it is often distinguished as white goosefoot. Chenopodium album is extensively cultivated and consumed in Northern India, and Nepal as a food crop known as bathua.
Claytonia perfoliata, commonly known as miner's lettuce, rooreh, Indian lettuce, or winter purslane, is a flowering plant in the family Montiaceae. It is an edible, fleshy, herbaceous, annual plant native to the western mountain and coastal regions of North America.
Celtuce, also called stem lettuce, celery lettuce, asparagus lettuce, or Chinese lettuce, is a cultivar of lettuce grown primarily for its thick stem or its leaves. It is used as a vegetable. In mainland China, the family is informally called woju, which is also the name of a cultivar. It is especially popular in both mainland China and Taiwan, where the stem is interchangeably called wosun or qingsun.
Rampion is a common name for several plants, including:
Arctium lappa, commonly called greater burdock, gobō (牛蒡/ゴボウ), edible burdock, lappa, beggar's buttons, thorny burr, or happy major is a Eurasian species of plants in the family Asteraceae, cultivated in gardens for its root used as a vegetable. It has become an invasive weed of high-nitrogen soils in North America, Australia, and other regions.
Lactuca serriola, also called prickly lettuce, milk thistle, compass plant, and scarole, is an annual or biennial plant in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae. It has a slightly fetid odor and is commonly considered a weed of orchards, roadsides and field crops. It is the closest wild relative of cultivated lettuce.
Tetragonia tetragonioides, commonly called New Zealand spinach, Warrigal greens and other local names, is a flowering plant in the fig-marigold family (Aizoaceae). It is often cultivated as a leafy vegetable.
Valerianella is a genus of flowering plant in family Caprifoliaceae. Many plants of this genus are known by the common name corn salad or cornsalad, although that name most often refers to Valerianella locusta.
Rocket, eruca, or arugula is an edible annual plant in the family Brassicaceae used as a leaf vegetable for its fresh, tart, bitter, and peppery flavor. Its other common names include "garden rocket", as well as "colewort", "roquette", "ruchetta", "rucola", "rucoli", and "rugula". E. vesicaria is widely popular as a salad vegetable and is native to the Mediterranean region.
Valerianella umbilicata, is a synonym for Valeriana umbilicata known by the common name navel cornsalad. It is a dicot, annual plant in the flowering plant family Caprifoliaceae. It is native to the Eastern North America and some parts of Canada and has no known uses other than being edible.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Ward, Artemas (1911). "[no title cited]". The Grocer's Encyclopedia .