Appearance
Cornsalad 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 of flowers. The flowers have a bluish-white corolla of five fused petals, 1.5 to 2 mm 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.
Naming
Common names include lamb's lettuce, common cornsalad, or simply cornsalad,: 831 : 260 mâche, fetticus, feldsalat, nut lettuce, field salad, and valerian salad. The common name 'cornsalad' refers to the fact that it often grows as a weed in cornfields.Distribution
Cornsalad grows wild in parts of Europe, northern Africa and western Asia. 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.As a cultivated crop, it is a specialty of the region around Nantes, France, which is the primary producer of mâche in Europe.
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