Medicinal Monday - Wonderful Watercress

Watercress is a semi-aquatic perennial herb in the Cruciferae (Brassicaceae) or mustard family and is one of the oldest leaf vegetables consumed by humans. Watercress is distributed worldwide and was introduced to North America by colonists from England where it was a popular salad green. In addition to being a food source rich in vitamins, Native American communities found medicinal uses for this herb that has a peppery taste. 

About Watercress

Watercress can be found in Connecticut where it grows along cold springs, brooks, stream margins, marshes, bogs, ditches, and other places where there is cold flowing water. Watercress often forms bushy colonies spreading across the water like a green carpet. Their hollow stems float on water. The leaves are oval with wavy edges. The small white flowers are tinged with lavender and grow in clusters on the tip of the stem. The plant blooms from April to October. The seeds are long, narrow, curved pods that split open when they mature. Watercress can grow submerged, floating, or as an emergent plant.

Medicinal and Culinary Uses

Watercress is used as a salad green and has a tangy, peppery flavor. This plant boasts many important vitamins and minerals including over 100% of the recommended daily intake for vitamin K. It is also high in antioxidants. The Algonquin, Luiseno, Okanagan-Colville, Saanich, Cahuilla, Cherokee, Iroquois, and Kawailsu, among others, ate the leaves in a salad. The Karok boiled young plants, the Kawailisu fried the plants in grease and salt, and the Cherokee boiled the leaves and ate them with bacon grease. 

Medicinally Native Americans used watercress to treat kidney illnesses and constipation, and some thought it was an aphrodisiac. The Costanoan made a decoction of this plant and used it as a remedy to cleanse the liver. The Mahuna used a decoction of this plant to treat gallstones and cirrhosis. The Okanagan-Colville made a poultice of a fresh plant and applied it to the forehead to treat headaches and dizziness.

Did You Know...

Roman emperors ate watercress to help them make bold decisions.

Until the Renaissance, watercress was used as a breath freshener and palate cleanser in Europe.

Louis and Clark found watercress regularly on their trek across the Louisiana Purchase.

The U.S. Army planted watercress in gardens of forts along western trails as food for soldiers.