From The Food Encyclopedia by Jacques Rolland and Carol Sherman
Also corn salad, fetticus, field lettuce, field salad, lamb's lettuce. A perennial plant, Valerianella olitoria, probably from the Mediterranean region. It has no relation to corn or lamb, but is a relative of catnip, cultivated and consumed like a lettuce, with a high tolerance for frost. Appreciated since Roman times because of the delicate flavor of its tender leaves, mâche is best eaten young, because it can become bitter with age. Some varieties have a slight hazelnut flavor.
