Common Orache

When I saw this in a basil pot on the deck, I figured it’d be just some noxious weed.

Turns out it’s orache, which no, isn’t the name of some extinct ox, but which is, scholars tell us (well, my dictionary tells me), derived from the Greek atraphaxus.

Which means - well, I have no clue what it means, but more importantly, this plant is a relative of quinoa and other Chenopodia (literally, goosefoots), and was an important grain to humans back in the mesolithic. Just like quinoa is now among humans that can afford it in the ante-apocalyptic, post-granola epoch.

The point being that there’s a story behind even the most errant shoot popping up in your flower pots.