Barbarea verna
(Mill.) Asch.
Early cress, American land cress
(c) Nick Belliveau, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Nick Belliveau
(c) Douglas Goldman, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Douglas Goldman
(c) John D Reynolds, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by John D Reynolds
What to Eat
Edible parts: Leaves, Seeds, Vegetable
Edible Parts: Leaves Oil Seed Edible Uses: Oil Best parts: young leaves and raab. Window: late winter–spring. Rating: 3.5/5.Young leaves - raw, cooked or used as a seasoning. A hot, spicy watercress flavour, they are delicious in salads. Leaves can be obtained throughout the year if autumn-sown plants are given a light protection in winter. An edible oil is obtained from the seed. The seed can be sprouted and added to salads etc. Taste, Processing & Kitchen Notes: Raw flavor: cress-like pepper with pleasant brassica sweetness when grown cool and irrigated evenly. Heat/drought ramps up pungency and bitterness. For mild results, cut at 10–15 cm rosette stage. Light blanching or quick sauté with fat/acid balances bite. Bud clusters compact and tasty [2-3]. Seasonality (Phenology): Sow: late summer–fall (overwinter rosettes) or very early spring. Harvest greens: late winter–spring. Flower/bolt: late spring; edible raab window is short. Seed: early summer.
Where to Find It
It is a temperate plant. It will grows in the hills in Malaysia. In Haiti it occurs at 1600 m. In Argentina it grows from sea level to 600 m above sea level. Tasmania Herbarium.
Africa, Argentina, Asia, Australia, Austria, Britain, Cape Verde, Chile, East Africa, Europe*, France, Germany, Haiti, Hawaii, Indochina, Ireland, Italy, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mediterranean, Moldavia, Netherlands, New Zealand, North America, Pacific, Pakistan, Portugal, SE Asia, Senegal, South America, Spain, Switzerland, Tasmania, Turkey, Türkiye, USA, Vietnam, West Africa, West Indies,
How to Identify
A cabbage family herb. The leaves are dark smooth and shiny. They come from the ground in many stemmed rings. Each stem has leaflets arranged in 2 rows. There is a large rounded leaflet at the end. The flowering stem can be 60 cm high. The flowers are bright yellow. The seed pods are narrow and like a cylinder. There is a short point at the end.
Nutrition Score: 8/100
| Part | Moisture | kJ | kcal | Protein | Vit A | Vit C | Iron | Zinc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leaves | 89 | 21 | 5.14 | — | 130 | — | — | — |
How to Grow
Plants are grown from seeds. It easily self seeds.
Propagation: Seed - sow spring to September in situ at 3-weekly intervals to provide a succession of leaves. Germination usually takes place within 2 - 3 weeks.
Medicinal Uses
None known
Other Uses
Oil Ecology & Wildlife: Early bloom for pollinators; greens host brassica herbivores supporting predatory beneficials. Special Uses Food Forest
Wikipedia
Source ↗Barbarea verna is a biennial herb in the family Brassicaceae. Common names include land cress, American cress, bank cress, black wood cress, Belle Isle cress, Bermuda cress, poor man's cabbage, early yellowrocket, early wintercress, scurvy cress, creasy greens, and upland cress. It is native to southern Europe and western Asia, and naturalized elsewhere It has been cultivated as a leaf vegetable in England since the 17th century. As it requires less water than watercress, it is easier to cultivate.
Other Information
It is a commercially cultivated vegetable.
Notes
There are 12 Barbarea species.
Names & Synonyms
Anadndrano an tanety, Bank cress, Land cress, Scurvy grass, Sunnar
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