|
Nasturtium officinale - R.Br.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Common Name
|
Watercress
|
|
Family
|
Brassicaceae or Cruciferae
|
|
Synonyms
|
Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum. (L.)Hayek. Sisymbrium nasturtium-aquaticum.
|
|
Known Hazards
|
Whilst the plant is very wholesome and nutritious, some care should be taken if harvesting it from the wild. Any plants growing in water that drains from fields where animals, particularly sheep, graze should not be used raw. This is due to the risk of it being infested with the liver fluke parasite[5, 244]. Cooking the leaves, however, will destroy any parasites and render the plant perfectly safe to eat[244]. May inhibit the metabolism of paracetamol [301].
|
|
Habitats
|
Stream margins, ditches, flushes etc with moving water[17, 27], usually in chalk or limestone areas[52].
|
|
Range
|
Europe, including Britain, from Sweden and Denmark south and east to N. Africa and W. Asia.
|
Edibility Rating
|
|
|
Medicinal Rating
|
|
|
Care
|
|
|
Physical Characteristics
|
|
 
Nasturtium officinale is a PERENNIAL growing to 0.5 m (1ft 8in) by 1 m (3ft 3in).
It is hardy to zone 6 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from May to October, and the seeds ripen from Jul to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees, flies, self.The plant is self-fertile.
It is noted for attracting wildlife.
Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers wet soil and can grow in water.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Habitats
|
|
|
Pond; Bog Garden;
|
|
Edible Uses
|
|
Edible Parts: Leaves; Seed.
Edible Uses: Condiment.
Leaves - raw or cooked[2, 5, 7, 9, 16, 27]. Water cress is mainly used as a garnish or as an addition to salads, the flavour is strong with a characteristic hotness[183]. It has a reputation as a spring tonic, and this is its main season of use, though it can be harvested for most of the year and can give 10 pickings annually[238]. Some caution is advised if gathering the plant from the wild, see the notes above on toxicity. The leaves are exceptionally rich in vitamins and minerals, especially iron[200]. A nutritional analysis is available[218]. The seed can be sprouted and eaten in salads[183]. A hot mustardy flavour[K]. The seed is ground into a powder and used as a mustard[46, 183]. The pungency of mustard develops when cold water is added to the ground-up seed - an enzyme (myrosin) acts on a glycoside (sinigrin) to produce a sulphur compound. The reaction takes 10 - 15 minutes. Mixing with hot water or vinegar, or adding salt, inhibits the enzyme and produces a mild but bitter mustard[238].
|
|
|
Composition
|
|
|
Figures in grams (g) or miligrams (mg) per 100g of food.
|
|
|
Leaves (Fresh weight)
|
|
- 19 Calories per 100g
- Water : 93.3%
- Protein: 2.2g; Fat: 0.3g; Carbohydrate: 3g; Fibre: 0.7g; Ash: 1.2g;
- Minerals - Calcium: 151mg; Phosphorus: 54mg; Iron: 1.7mg; Magnesium: 0mg; Sodium: 52mg; Potassium: 282mg; Zinc: 0mg;
- Vitamins - A: 2940mg; Thiamine (B1): 0.08mg; Riboflavin (B2): 0.16mg; Niacin: 0.9mg; B6: 0mg; C: 79mg;
- Reference: [ 218]
- Notes:
|
|
|
|
Medicinal Uses
|
Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.
Antirheumatic; Antiscorbutic; Appetizer; Depurative; Diuretic; Expectorant; Hypoglycaemic; Miscellany; Odontalgic; Purgative; Stimulant;
Stomachic; TB.
Watercress is very rich in vitamins and minerals, and has long been valued as a food and medicinal plant[254]. Considered a cleansing herb, its high content of vitamin C makes it a remedy that is particularly valuable for chronic illnesses[254]. The leaves are antiscorbutic, depurative, diuretic, expectorant, purgative, hypoglycaemic, odontalgic, stimulant and stomachic[4, 7, 9, 21, 46, 222, 238]. The plant has been used as a specific in the treatment of TB[4]. The freshly pressed juice has been used internally and externally in the treatment of chest and kidney complaints, chronic irritations and inflammations of the skin etc[9]. Applied externally, it has a long-standing reputation as an effective hair tonic, helping to promote the growth of thick hair[244]. A poultice of the leaves is said to be an effective treatment for healing glandular tumours or lymphatic swellings[244]. Some caution is advised, excessive use of the plant can lead to stomach upsets[9, 21]. The leaves can be harvested almost throughout the year and are used fresh[238].
|
|
|
Other Uses
|
Hair; Miscellany.
The juice of the plant is a nicotine solvent and is used as such on strong tobaccos[7].
|
|
|
Cultivation details
|
|
|
Watercress is easily grown when given the correct conditions of slowly flowing clean water, preferably coming from chalky or limestone soils[264]. It prefers to grow in water about 5cm deep[37] with an optimum pH 7.2[200]. Plants can be grown in wet soil if the position is somewhat shaded and protection is given in winter, though the flavour may be hotter[27, 37]. Hardy to about -15°c[200]. Watercress is often cultivated for its edible leaves, there are some named varieties[16, 183]. The plant is very sensitive to pollution so a clean source of water is required[200]. Plants will often continue to grow all through mild winters. A fast-growing plant, the stems trail along the ground or float in water and produce new roots at the leaf nodes, thus making the plant very easy to propagate vegetatively[238]. Unfortunately, virus diseases have become more common in cultivated plants and so most propagation is carried out by seed[264]. This is a diploid species. It has hybridised naturally in the wild with the triploid species N. microphyllum to produce the sterile hybrid N. x sterilis which is also commonly cultivated as a salad crop[264]. The flowers are a rich source of pollen and so are very attractive to bees[7].
|
|
|
|
|
|
Propagation
|
|
|
Seed - sow spring in a pot emmersed to half its depth in water. Germination should take place within a couple of weeks. Prick out seedlings into individual pots whilst they are still small and increase the depth of water gradually until they are submerged. Plant out into a pond in the summer. Cuttings can be taken at any time in the growing season. Virtually any part of the plant, including a single leaf, will form roots if detached from the parent plant[56]. Just put it in a container of water until the roots are well formed and then plant out in shallow water.
|
 You can download this page as a PDF
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Botanical References
|
|
|
17200
|
|
|
|
|
|
Links / References
|
|
|
[K] Ken Fern Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.
|
[2]Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World.
|
|
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
|
|
|
[4]Grieve. A Modern Herbal.
|
|
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
|
|
|
[5]Mabey. R. Food for Free.
|
|
Edible wild plants found in Britain. Fairly comprehensive, very few pictures and rather optimistic on the desirability of some of the plants.
|
|
|
[7]Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants.
|
|
Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.
|
|
|
[9]Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants.
|
|
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.
|
|
|
[16]Simons. New Vegetable Growers Handbook.
|
|
A good guide to growing vegetables in temperate areas, not entirely organic.
|
|
|
[17]Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles.
|
|
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
|
|
|
[21]Lust. J. The Herb Book.
|
|
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.
|
|
|
[27]Vilmorin. A. The Vegetable Garden.
|
|
A reprint of a nineteenth century classic, giving details of vegetable varieties. Not really that informative though.
|
|
|
[37]Thompson. B. The Gardener's Assistant.
|
|
Excellent general but extensive guide to gardening practices in the 19th century. A very good section on fruits and vegetables with many little known species.
|
|
|
[46]Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants.
|
|
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
|
|
|
[52]Larkcom. J. Salads all the Year Round.
|
|
A good and comprehensive guide to temperate salad plants, with full organic details of cultivation.
|
|
|
[56]Muhlberg. H. Complete Guide to Water Plants.
|
|
Deals with a wide range of plants for temperate areas (and indoor aquaria) with quite a lot of information on cultivation techniques.
|
|
|
[183]Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants.
|
|
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
|
|
|
[200]Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992.
|
|
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
|
|
|
[218]Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China
|
|
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.
|
|
|
[222]Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America.
|
|
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.
|
|
|
[238]Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses.
|
|
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
|
|
|
[244]Phillips. R. & Foy. N. Herbs
|
|
Deals with all types of herbs including medicinal, culinary, scented and dye plants. Excellent photographs with quite good information on each plant.
|
|
|
[254]Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants
|
|
An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.
|
|
|
[264]Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Vegetables
|
|
Excellent and easily read book with good information and an excellent collection of photos of vegetables from around the world, including many unusual species.
|
|
|
[301]Karalliedde. L. and Gawarammana. I. Traditional Herbal Medicines
|
|
A guide to the safer use of herbal medicines.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
QR Code
|
|
|
|
What's this?
|
|
This is a QR code (short for Quick Response) which gives fast-track access to our website pages. QR Codes are barcodes that can be read by mobile phone (smartphone) cameras. This QR Code is unique to this page. All plant pages have their own unique code. For more information about QR Codes click here.
|
|
1. Copy and print the QR code to a plant label, poster, book, website, magazines, newspaper etc and even t-shirts.
|
|
2. Smartphone users scan the QR Code which automatically takes them to the webpage the QR Code came from.
|
|
3. Smartphone users quickly have information on a plant directly for the pfaf.org website on their phone.
|
|
|
|
Rate This Plant
|
|
|
Please rate this plants for how successful you have found it to be. You will need to be logged in to do this. Our intention is not to create a list of 'popular' plants but rather to highlight plants that may be rare and unusual and that have been found to be useful by website users. This hopefully will encourage more people to use plants that they possibly would not have considered before.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Add a comment/link
|
|
|
If you have important information about this plant that may help other users please add a comment or link below. Only comments or links that are felt to be directly relevant to a plant will be included. If you think a comment/link or information contained on this page is inaccurate or misleading we would welcome your feedback at admin@pfaf.org. If you have questions about a plant please use the Forum on this website as we do not have the resources to answer questions ourselves.
* Please note: the comments by website users are not necessarily those held by PFAF and may give misleading or inaccurate information.
|
Subject : Nasturtium officinale
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|