Orach

Also called garden orach, mountain spinach, arroche, orache, French spinach, and butter leaves

Pick up a book about edible plants, and it will tell you that orach has been cultivated since ancient times, was cooked by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and has long been popular in Europe and then in the United States. Then the entry is likely to end more or less on this note: “Sadly, orach disappeared from our garden this century” (The Vegetable Book by Colin Spencer). As recently as 1865, the classic seed reference The Field and Garden Vegetables of America, by Fearing Burr, Jr., described seven distinct varieties in use, yet few gardeners or cooks today have even heard of orach.