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Salad Herbs

Speaking of plants used as salad Dr. Lankester remarks:--"First there is the lettuce (Lactuca sativa). This plant is a cultivated variety of the wild lettuce (Lactuca virosa). It contains in its juice an active principle, which in large quantities exercises a narcotic influence on the human system. The water-cress (Nasturtium officinale). This plant grows wild in ditches and damp places in this country, and is also extensively cultivated in the neighbourhood of London. It contains a large quantity of mineral matter, and in some districts is found to contain iodine. The endive (Cichorium Endivia). This plant is probably a variety of the common chicory (Cichorium Intybus). It is cultivated extensively on the Continent, and its blanched leaves are eaten as a salad. It can be obtained in the winter. It has a slightly bitter taste, and acts as a tonic on the system. Celery is the A pium graviolens. When wild this plant contains an acrid principle, which is poisonous, but by culture its stalks are blanched, and it then becomes an agreeable and valuable article of food. The garden-cress is the Lepidium sativum. This plant is not a native of Great Britain, but it is easily cultivated and extensively used as an early spring salad. The seeds are sown with those of mustard (Sinapis nigra and Sinapis alba), and the young plants are both eaten together under the name of 'mustard and cress.' The red beet, the Beta vulgaris of botanists. There are two varieties of this plant used as salad. First, a variety called la Carde, which has a small root and large leaves; the latter are eaten in the same way as lettuce. The other variety is called Betterave, in which the roots are largely developed. The roots are boiled and sliced, and eaten with vinegar, oil, pepper, and salt. The radish is the Raphanus Raphanistrum. The roots of this plant are eaten uncooked, and, like the family to which they belong, contain a subacrid oil, which gives them an agreeable flavour. They are less digestible than many other plants eaten as salad. Lamb's lettuce, or corn-salad, is the Valerianella olitoria. This plant is a native of Great Britain, and is often cultivated for use as a salad. The leaves for this purpose should be cut young or they will have a disagreeable bitter taste. The common sorrel is the Rumex acetosa. The acid taste of this plant depends on the presence of oxalic acid. It is much used as a salad in France. The common dandelion is the Leontodon Taraxacum. This plant, though very common in England, is not much used as a salad. It has, however, when young, the flavour and properties of lettuce, and is extensively employed as a salad on the Continent."