Valerianella locusta (corn salad, "Nojisha")

Japanese name: ノヂシャ （野萵苣）
Scientific name: Valerianella locusta

[Overview]
An annual or biennial up to about 40 cm tall.
The stem forks in twos and has 4 ridges, with hairs growing along the ridges.
Leaves are simple and opposite, elliptic to lanceolate, 2–4 cm long, with entire margins and white hairs.
At the stem tips, 10–20 pale blue flowers 1.5 mm across are borne in each cluster.
The corolla is tubular and 5-lobed.

[History]
It was introduced to Japan as a vegetable between the Edo period and the early Meiji period and has since become naturalized.

[Uses]
In Europe and elsewhere, the young leaves are eaten as a vegetable.

View this page in Japanese (日本語)