Lepidium densiflorum
| Lepidium densiflorum | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |   |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 2' |
| Blooms: | Late Spring-Mid Summer |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Lepidium densiflorum (common name: common pepperweed)
Propagation: Seed - sow spring or late summer in situ. Germination should take place within 3 weeks.
Cultivation: An easily grown plant, it succeeds in most soils.
Range: N. America - Maine to British Columbia, south to Virginia, Texas and Nevada. Casual in Britain[1].
Habitat: Dry soils[2]. Meadows, pastures, arable land, waste places, walls etc[3]. Sandy soils in disturbed areas in Texas[4].
Edibility: Leaves - raw or cooked[5][6]. A hot cress-like flavour, they are used in spring and early summer, the young leaves are best[3].
Immature seedpods - a hot pungent taste, they are used as a flavouring[3].
Seed - used as a mustard-like flavouring[5]. 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 mildly-pungent but bitter mustard[7].
Medicinal: The leaves have been chewed in the treatment of headaches[8]. An infusion of the plant has been used in the treatment of kidney problems[8]. It has also been used as a dietary aid for a person trying to lose weight[8].
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Links
References
- ↑ Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ Britton, Nathaniel and Addison Brown. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada. Dover Publications, 1970.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Launert, Edmund. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn, 1981.
- ↑ Diggs, George and Barney Lipscomb. Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas. Botanical Research Institute, 1999.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Schofield, Janice. Discovering Wild Plants.
- ↑ Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
- ↑ Bown, Deni. Royal Horticultural Society Encyclopaedia of Herbs and Their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, 1995.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.