Enrico Rao arugula

(Eruca sativa)

A pleasantly spicy arugula with relatively broad, shallowly-lobed leaves which gives lots of quantity per plant – efficient for pesto making! Excellent for fall growing.

Named for the man who brought it to North America, this variety was spread by Seed Savers Exchange. They had received it in the mid-1990s from Hans Hansen of Peaceable Kingdom School in Washington, Texas; he had gotten seed from Enrico “Ric” Rao in 1992. In 1983 Ric had found seed in a garden shed which had belonged to his grandfather, also Enrico Rao, and taken up growing and maintaining it. In 2013, Ric wrote to SSE to share its story (quoted from their website):

“My Grandfather, Enrico Rao, was born in a small town in Sicily named Ali Superiore [located] about 15 miles south of the city of Messina along the straits of Messina. He came to the US as a young boy, and in 1914, when WWI broke out, he was drafted into the army. He was fighting in Alsace Lorraine where he was wounded and sent to a hospital in Paris to recover. He was granted a leave and since it was a long journey back to the US, he went to visit his family still living in Sicily.

His father asked Enrico to bring back some arugula seeds from their hometown, since they probably couldn’t get them in the U.S. at the time. He brought them back and then, after he was married, his father gave him some of the seeds to plant. Enrico planted them every year starting in [Brooklyn], then when they moved to Valley Stream on Long Island, he still grew them until his death in 1983. That’s when I retrieved the seeds from his garden shed.”

SSE Accession # 113595