Leafy salad vegetables are among the most universally used vegetable crops grown today. Their prominence as important crops has been heightened through the last several decades due to an awareness on the part of consumers of the nutrient, and other obvious values they offer to the diet as "fresh greens" which, at least in the United States, have become a daily table staple. As a result, acreage planted to leafy salad vegetable crops has expanded to a remarkable degree over the past few decades, making these crops an important segment of the agricultural and marketing industries. Published information on leafy salad vegetables has been-and is­ widespread and scattered. This book brings together all up-to-date information and is amply referenced throughout for further study and information. Similarities and differences among the species are discussed and provide insight into the place these species hold in the world cropping system and in the human diet. This approach in text organiza­ tion was made in an effort to be helpful to the widest type of readership: professional researchers and teachers, graduate and undergraduate stu­ dents, extension workers, farmers and other members of the horticultural community, and, perhaps, even lay readers who are the ultimate consumers.