It is a small plant with pulpy leaves and stems, and it is found in Summer
in well drained soils or like an infesting plant in gardens. The plant
is edible and it is used to prepare salads together with other herbs,
or to cook minestrone, or it can be boiled and then sautéed with
butter and oil.
Use In past years the plant was valuable because of its refreshing
and astringent properties, especially for the mouth. In the Renaissance
it was used to prepare "panzanella". It was able to enrich
with its flavour poor bread leftovers, and for this reason a famous
Florentine sculpture praised it in a nursery rhyme.
Picture and text of Tebaldo Lorini Translated by Gianna Toni