Lepidium virginicum
| Lepidium virginicum | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 2' |
| Blooms: | Late Spring-Mid Fall |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Lepidium virginicum (common name: wild pepper grass)
Propagation: Seed - sow spring in situ. Germination usually takes place within 2 weeks.
Cultivation: An easily grown plant, it succeeds in most soils.
Range: N. America - Quebec to Minnesota, south to Florida and Colorado. A casual in many parts of Britain.
Habitat: Dry sandy soils[1] in waste places and by roads[2]. Avoids dense woods and wet places[3].
Edibility: Young leaves - raw or cooked[1][4][3]. The leaves are a rich source of vitamin C[5] and have a hot cress-like flavour[6]. Chopped finely and added to salads, used as a garnish or cooked as greens[7].
Unripe seedpods have a pleasantly pungent flavour and can be eaten raw[1] or used as a condiment in soups and stews[7].
The seed is a pepper substitute[4][3].
Medicinal: The leaves of wild pepper-grass are nutritious and generally detoxifying, they have been used to treat vitamin C deficiency and diabetes, and to expel intestinal worms[5]. The herb is also diuretic and of benefit in easing rheumatic pain[5]. North American Indians used the bruised fresh plant, or a tea made from the leaves to treat poison ivy rash and scurvy[8]. A poultice of the leaves was applied to the chest in the treatment of croup[8].
The seed is antiasthmatic, antitussive, cardiotonic and diuretic[9]. It is used in the treatment of coughs and asthma with excessive phlegm, oedema, oliguria and liquid accumulation in the thoraco-abdominal cavity[9].A poultice of the bruised roots has been used to draw out blisters[10].
The root is used to treat excess catarrh within the respiratory tract[5].
Pollinators: Insects
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Also Known As: L. intermedium.
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Harris, Ben. Eat the Weeds. Pivot Health, 1973.
- ↑ Lyndon, Merritt. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co, 1950.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 McPherson, Alan and Sue McPherson. Wild Food Plants of Indiana. Indiana University Press, 1977.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Elias, Thomas. A Field Guide to North American Edible Wild Plants. Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1982.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Chevallier, Andrew. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants. Dorling Kindersley, 1996.
- ↑ Cribb, Alan and Joan Cribb. Wild Food in Australia. Fontana, 1976.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Foster, Steven and Billy Tatum. Medicinal Plants of Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin, 1990.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Yeung, Him-Che. Handbook of Chinese Herbs and Formulas. Institute of Chinese Medicine, 1985.
- ↑ Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.