Japanese name: ホウレンソウ（菠薐草） Scientific name:Spinacia oleracea
[Overview]
An annual.
It is dioecious.
The leaves are simple and alternate in a rosette, and the leaf shape, texture and flavor differ between Oriental and Western cultivars.
The leaves are rich in vitamins and iron, but they contain oxalic acid and have a strong harshness, so they are not usually eaten raw.
[History]
Only cultivated forms are known and no wild species has been found, but its origin is presumed to be the southwestern coast of the Caspian Sea, where a related species grows wild.
It is said to have first begun to be cultivated in Iran around the turn of the Common Era.
Oriental cultivars seem to have reached Japan around the 16th century, but cultivation became widespread from the end of the Taisho period to the early Showa period.
[Cultivation]
It prefers weakly acidic to neutral soil with good water retention and good drainage.
