Spinach

Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) is an edible flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae native to central and western Asia.

It is an annual plant (rarely biennial), which grows up to 30 cm tall. Spinach may survive over winter in temperate regions. The leaves are alternate, simple, ovate to triangular, and very variable in size from about 2–30 cm long and 1–15 cm broad, with larger leaves at the base of the plant and small leaves higher on the flowering stem. The flowers are inconspicuous, yellow-green, 3–4 mm in diameter, maturing into a small, hard, dry, lumpy fruit cluster 5–10 mm across containing several seeds.

Common spinach, S. oleracea, was long considered to be in the family Chenopodiaceae, but in 2003, that family was merged into the family Amaranthaceae in the order Caryophyllales. Within the family Amaranthaceae sensu lato, Spinach belongs to subfamily Chenopodioideae.

Etymology

The English word "spinach" dates to the late 14th century, and is from espinache (Fr. épinard), of uncertain origin. The traditional view derives it from O.Prov. espinarc, which perhaps is via Catalan espinac, from Andalusian Arabic اسبيناخ asbīnākh, from Arabic السبانخ al-sabānikh, from Persian اسپاناخ aspānākh, meaning purportedly 'green hand', but the multiplicity of forms makes the theory doubtful.

Spinach (moth)

The spinach (Eulithis mellinata) is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found throughout much of the Palearctic region and the Near East though its distribution is rather local due to its specialized larval food plant. In the British Isles it is fairly common in England and Wales but much rarer in Scotland and Ireland.

Its wingspan is 33–38 mm. The forewings are yellow marked with brown fascia and apical streak with brown chequering on the fringe. The hindwings are plain cream but are rarely seen as the species usually rests in a very distinctive and characteristic way with the forewings held out at 90° to the body with the hindwings hidden behind them. Some other members of the genus such as the northern spinach and barred straw rest in a similar way. The species flies at night from June to August and is attracted to light.

The larva is green with white lines and feeds exclusively on currants. The species overwinters as an egg.

Spinach (disambiguation)

Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) is an edible flowering plant in the family of Amaranthaceae.

Spinach may also refer to: