Leaf vegetable

Leaf vegetables, also called leafy greens, vegetable greens, or simply greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable. Those eaten raw in a salad can be called salad greens, whereas leaf vegetables eaten cooked can be called pot herbs.

Nearly 1,000 species of plants with edible leaves are known. Leaf vegetables most often come from short-lived herbaceous plants, such as lettuce and spinach, but also come from some woody plants. The leaves of many fodder crops (e.g. alfalfa, clover, and most grasses) are also edible by humans, but usually only as famine or processed food.

Leaf vegetables contain many typical plant nutrients, but being photosynthetic tissues, their vitamin K levels are particularly notable. Accordingly, users of vitamin K antagonist medications like warfarin must limit their consumption of leaf vegetables.