CORN SALAD

Corn salad looks like a small, loose-leaf Lettuce. It was often harvested in the French vineyards before herbicides started to poison its habitat. It is desired for its utter tenderness. Italian corn salad V. eriocarpa is rarer, has hairy leaves, is suitable for warmer climates and needs to be planted every week or so for continuous yield. Corn salad is also called Lamb's Lettuce, and Mache and Doucette in French.

Plant Names
Botanical Family: 
VALERIANACEAE
Common Name: 
CORN SALAD
Genus: 
Valerianella
Species: 
locusta
About the Name: 

valerianella is the diminutive of the Latin valere "to be in good health".

Origins: 

Corn salad derives the name from its natural occurrence in fields of wheat, once called "corn" in England. It grows wild over southern Europe and western Asia.

Plant Description: 

Corn salad looks like a small, loose-leaf Lettuce. It was often harvested in the French vineyards before herbicides started to poison its habitat. It is desired for its utter tenderness. Italian corn salad V. eriocarpa is rarer, has hairy leaves, is suitable for warmer climates and needs to be planted every week or so for continuous yield. Corn salad is also called Lamb's Lettuce, and Mache and Doucette in French.

Variety Notes: 

Etampes Round, Lettuce Leaf, Variegated, Spoon-leafed and Golden Cabbaging are varieties mentioned in old catalogues.

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