Hairy Bittercress

Cardamine hirsuta

Plant Data

Order:

Brassicales

Family:

Brassicaceae (Cabbage)

Flowering Months:

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Flowers:

Tiny and forming clusters at the top. 4 white petals with 4 yellow stamens. Counting the number of stamens is perhaps the most reliable way to distinguish this flower from the almost identical Wavy Bittercress which has 6 yellow stamens.

Fruit:

Long and slender seed pods that split open when ripe.

Leaves:

Basal rosette, anything up to 9 inches long. Compound leaves with alternate leaflets that have one leaf per node along the main upright stem. The leaves persist throughout the winter months.

Maximum Size:

30cm tall.

Foraging Notes:

Bitter tasting as the name suggests. In fact, peppery and similar to cress that you would buy at the supermarket. This flower is high in vitamins A and C, calcium, magnesium and phosphorous. It can be eaten raw or cooked and the whole plant can be eaten.
Never consume a wild plant unless you are 100% certain that it is safe to eat and you know that you have identified it correctly.

Aroma:

The leaves are aromatic when bruised.

Other Names:

Common Bittercress, Flick Weed, Hoary Bittercress, Hoary Wood Cress, Jumping Jesus, Lamb's Cress, Land Cress, Pennsylvania Bittercress, Pepperweed, Popping Cress, Shotweed, Small Bittercress, Snapweed, Spring Cress.

Habitats:

Farmland, gardens, rocks, swamps, walls, wasteland, wetland, woodland.