Valerianella locusta
common cornsalad
Europe, North Africa, and western Asia
SunFull Sun – Part Shade
WaterMedium
Overview
Valerianella locusta is a small annual 4-12 inches (10-30 cm) tall, forming a low rosette of soft, spoon-shaped basal leaves before branching repeatedly into a forked flowering stem. The leaves are smooth, bright green, and 1-3 inches (2.5-7.5 cm) long, with a mild, nutty flavor that makes the plant a popular winter salad green. From spring the forked stems carry small dense clusters of pale lilac to bluish flowers, each only about 0.1 inch (1-2 mm) across. These give way to small hardened fruits. As a cool-season annual it germinates in autumn or early spring, grows through cool weather, and flowers and seeds as temperatures rise. It grows wild on bare and disturbed ground, walls, dunes, and arable fields on light soils. A limitation in cultivation is its tendency to bolt and turn bitter once warm weather arrives, which shortens the harvest window.
Native Range
Valerianella locusta is native to Europe, North Africa, and western Asia. It grows wild on light, disturbed soils and has naturalized in North America and other temperate regions, partly as an escape from cultivation as a salad crop.Suggested Uses
Valerianella locusta is grown as a cool-season salad leaf in vegetable gardens and containers, used for cropping through autumn and winter. It fills bare ground between other crops and tolerates light shade. The small flowers of plants left to bolt supply nectar for tiny insects.How to Identify
Appearance
Size & Dimensions
Height4" - 1'
Width/Spread4" - 8"
Bloom Information
Detailed Descriptions
Flower Description
pale blue to lilacFoliage Description
bright greenGrowing Conditions
Sun Requirements
Requires 4-8 hours of direct sunlight daily
• Full Sun: 6+ hours of direct sunlight
• Partial Shade: 3-6 hours of direct sunlight
• Full Shade: Less than 3 hours of direct sunlight
Water & Climate
Water Needs
Care & Maintenance
Care Guide
Valerianella locusta grows in full sun to part shade in moist, freely drained soil of moderate fertility, tolerating a soil pH from about 6.0 to 7.5. As a hardy annual it grows through cool weather and withstands light frost, making it a useful autumn and winter salad. Seed is sown directly in late summer for winter harvest or in early spring for a spring crop. Plants need steady moisture to stay tender and bolt quickly in heat. Leaves are picked from the rosette before flowering stems develop. The plant self-seeds readily where some plants are left to mature.Pruning
No pruning is needed for this short-lived annual. Harvesting leaves regularly delays bolting. Plants left to flower self-seed and can be cleared once seed has shed.Container Growing
✓ Suitable for container growing
Minimum container size: 1 gallons