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Valerianella eriocarpa

Common name:	Italian Corn Salad	Family:	Valerianaceae
Author:	Desv.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	C. and S. Europe. Naturalized in Britain[17].
Habitat:	Old walls and banks in Britain[17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Italian Cornsalad [P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	eriocarpa = woolly fruits
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Dipsacales. Valerian family

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 0.4m. It is not frost tender. It is in flower from June to July. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds, In Walls, In South Wall, In East Wall, In West Wall.

Edible Uses

Leaves.

Young leaves - raw or cooked[2, 37, 52]. The leaves have a very mild flavour and a slightly mucilaginous texture, they make an excellent ingredient of mixed salads and can be eaten in quantity[K]. The leaves can be available all year round from successional sowings, and will only need protection in colder winters[K]. When grown in rich soils larger leaves are produced that can be used as a potherb[183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

An easily grown plant, it prefers a fairly rich light soil[1]. Prefers a sunny position but tolerates some shade in summer[K]. This shade, plus an adequate supply of water, will slow down the plant's tendency to run to seed[200]. Late sowings will benefit from a sheltered sunny position and perhaps some protection in the winter.
Occasionally cultivated for its edible leaves, there are some named varieties[183]. It is less hardy than common corn salad (Valerianella locusta), but does not run to seed so quickly in hot weather[183].

Propagation

Seed - in order to obtain a continuous supply of salad leaves, it is best to sow the seed successionally from early spring to mid summer in situ. A late summer sowing can also succeed, and this would supply edible leaves in the winter.

Cultivars

'Piedmont' 'Di Piemonte' Seme Grosso di Olanda': The plant has long pale-green spoon-shaped leaves[183]. Good heat resistance[183].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Valerianaceae.

To be included in the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[37] Thompson. B. The Gardener's Assistant. Blackie and Son. 1878
Excellent general but extensive guide to gardening practices in the 19th century. A very good section on fruits and vegetables with many little known species.

[52] Larkcom. J. Salads all the Year Round. Hamlyn 1980
A good and comprehensive guide to temperate salad plants, with full organic details of cultivation.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Valerianella+eriocarpa
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Valerianella+eriocarpa

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