Garden Orache: From the Plant and Flower Alphabet
GRANITE BAY DESIGN PLANT & FLOWER ALPHABET
Atriplex hortensis, known as garden orache, red orache or simply orache (/ˈɒrətʃ/;[4] also spelled orach), mountain spinach, French spinach, or arrach, is a species of plant in the amaranth family used as a leaf vegetable that was common before spinach and still grown as a warm-weather alternative to that crop.
Atriplex hortensis has a salty, spinach-like taste. The leaves are used cooked or raw in salads. The green leaves were once used to color pasta in Italy. A common use of the plant is to balance out the acidic flavor of sorrel. It was commonly grown in Mediterranean regions from early times, until spinach became the more favored leaf vegetable. It is commonly grown as a warm-weather alternative to spinach because it is more tolerant of heat and slower to bolt in warm weather.
Engravings from “Handbook of Plant and Floral Ornament from Early Herbals” by Richard G. Hatton (Originally published in 1909).
Plant descriptions primarily from Wikipedia.
