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Scurvy Grass | | Name : | Scurvy Grass | | Botanical : | Cochlearia officinalis | | Synonyms : | Scurvygrass
Tallnasturtium
| | Family : | Cruciferae | | Parts Used : | Leaves, roots, young shoots | | Habitat : | Native to Europe and naturalized in the United States and some partsof Canada. It thrives in clear, running, cold water and is found inditches, springs, and streams everywhere. Widely cultivated for usein salads. | | Description : | It is a small, low-growing plant, annual or biennial, with thick, fleshy, glabrous, egg-shaped, cordate leaves (hence its name of spoonwort). The upper leaves are sessile - lower ones stalked, deltoid orbicular or reniform entire or toothed angularly. Flowers all summer in white short racemes - pods nearly globular - prominent valves of the mid-rib when dry. It has an unpleasant smell and a bitter, warm, acrid taste, very pungent when fresh. | | Constituents : | Leaves abound in a pungent oil containing sulphur, of the butylic series. | | Uses : | Formerly the fresh herb was greatly used on sea-voyages as a preventative of scurvey. It is stimulating, aperient, diuretic, antiscorbutic. The essential oil is of benefit in paralytic and rheumatic cases; scurvy-grass ale was a popular tonic drink.
The infusion of 2 OZ. to a pint of boiling water is taken in frequent wineglassful doses. | | Dosage : | Watercress must be used fresh.
Infusion: use 1 tsp. young shoots in 1/2 cup water. Take 1/2cup, freshly made, 3 times a day. To maintain the greatest possiblevitamin content, do not steep a long time or allow to boil.
Juice: take 1 tsp. in milk or water, 3 times a day. Freshwatercress juice is easily obtained with an electric vegetable juicer. | | Safety : | Do not harvest leaves from polluted waters. Poisonings have resultedfrom eating leaves from plants growing in polluted waters, from whichthe plant has absorbed heavy metals and toxins.
Excessive or prolonged use can lead to stomach upset and kidney problems.It should not be taken daily and no longer than 4 weeks even withinterruptions. The juice should not be taken undiluted, because itcan produce inflammations in the throat and stomach. Some doctorscaution against use during pregnancy. | | Myths : | Watercress is high in favor with nutritional advisors to the armedforces for soups and salads for the energy it produces. Good for dieters,has low carbohydrate content and more iron than spinach. Fed to childrenwith weak bones and soft teeth because it contains lime high in sulphurcontent. Given in tablet form for eczema.
The Greeks referred to watercress as a 'wit-producing food.' | | Nutrient : | Iodine, niacin, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, sodium, iron, calcium,vitamins A, B1, B2, C and E and zinc. | | Sold : | Fresh plant in grocery |
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