Buy one or get one free - Valerianella dentata

A couple of days ago I saw some interesting plants for sale in a shop. Besides the plants that are almost always there (orchids, succulents, some garden pansies and such), they do get other types from time to time so naturally it drew my attention. No, I did not buy any, but I did remember that I shot something like that a while ago.

I found the photos, but I didn't get the name of the shop plant and I still don't know if it's the same one, or not :p Of course the shop one was more bushy, compact and had more flowers. But that's what growing in a greenhouse with extra fertilizers instead of dry sand in the wild do.

Valerianella dentata

I confess that I am not 100% sure if I got the ID right. I compared photographs for various types of Valerianella and this one seems to be the closest.

Another option was looking for some type of Verbena, but I didn't find close enough one. If anyone knows what it is, please let me know.





The plant itself is quite tall and the few types I found were around half a meter in height. Some smaller, younger ones with less flowers were growing around as well (you'll see one them on a photo below).

The leaves mainly stay closer to the ground and remind of arugula with their shape.





Flowers are very tiny! Just a few mm across, but with multiple blooms it does looks quite nice. I didn't see any other colour besides that very pale lilac.

Blooming time, like most spring flowers around here, starts very early in spring - around March and will last until early summer when it gets too hot and to dry.

You can see that the tips where the flowers are extend and keep blooming with fresh buds showing at the top, while the bottom ones prepare to produce seeds.

Valerianella or not Valerianella?