Lamb's lettuce Valerianella locusta

Features

It is a very well-known and century-old leafy vegetable with a characteristic, slightly nutty taste. It is used in various salads and spices, and it also has a lot of vitamin C.

Species	Annual and biennial plant
Living space	Cultivated areas, Field, Meadow, Treeline
Size	5-15 cm

Description

Lamb's lettuce grows in a low rosette with spatulate leaves up to 15.2 cm long. 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, 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 long and wide, and three stamens. Underneath the flowers is a whorl of bracts. Fertilized flowers produce achenes with 2 sterile chambers and one fertile chamber.