Israel native plants: Bladder Corn Salad

Valerianella vesicaria, Valerianella locusta var. vesicaria, Bladder Corn Salad,

Hebrew: ולריינית משולחפת, Arabic: خَسّ النَّعْجَة

Scientific name:   Valerianella vesicaria (L.) Moench
Synonym name:   Valerianella locusta var. vesicaria L.
Common name:   Bladder Corn Salad
Hebrew name:   ולריינית משולחפת
Hebrew name:   خَسّ النَّعْجَة
Family:   Valerianaceae, ולריניים


Life form:   Annual
Stems:   5-10cm; hairy; tufted spreading
Leaves:   Opposite
Flowers:   Hermaphrodite; symmetrical cyme; 6 yellow, green sepals; corolla tubular, 5 white, lilac petals
Fruits / pods:   Swollen hairy achene; dense clusters, with 3 loculi among which only one is fertile
Flowering Period:   March, April
Habitat:   Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:   The Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:   Med – Irano-Turanian
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Valerianella, Diminitive of Valeriana, from the resemblance to Valeriana of these herbs; valere, “to be healthy”

vesicaria, vesica, a bladder; bladder-like; from the inflated pods following the flowers on these herbs.
The Hebrew name: ולריינית, valerianit, from the European language.

  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
  • The standard author abbreviation Moench is used to indicate Conrad Moench (1744 – 1805), a German botanist.