A small succulent plant, Valerianella olitoria, or Lamb’s-Lettuce, found wild in corn-fields, and cultivated as an early salad.
1597. Gerarde, Herbal, xxxv. 242. Of Lambes Lettuce, or Corne sallade.
1640. Glapthorne, Wit in Constable, I. One that lives on Onions and Corne sallets.
1664. Evelyn, Kal. Hort. (1729), 192. Sow Beans, Pease, Rounsevals, Corn-sallet.
1767. J. Abercrombie, Ev. Man his own Gard., 657/1. Corn Sallad. or lamb’s lettuce; a small annual plant of three or four inches growth used as a substitute for common lettuce in winter and spring sallads.
1860. Delamer, Kitch. Gard. (1861), 112. The value of corn-salad is its earliness.
1882. Garden, 17 June, 427/2. Corn Salad may be sown from February until June.
