Watercress (redirected from Nasturtium officinale)

watercress, hardy perennial European herb (Nasturtium officinale) of the family Cruciferae (mustard family), widely naturalized in North America, found in or around water. Often cultivated commercially for the small, pungent leaflets, it is used as a peppery salad green or garnish. Other plants of the genus are sometimes called watercress and are used similarly. Watercress was formerly used as a domestic remedy and against scurvy. The ornamental plant whose common name is nasturtium is unrelated. Watercress is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Capparales, family Cruciferae.

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watercress

Perennial plant (Nasturtium officinale) of the mustard family, native to Eurasia and naturalized throughout North America. It grows submerged, floating on the water, or spread over mud surfaces in cool, flowing streams. White flowers are followed by small, beanlike seedpods. Watercress is often cultivated in tanks for its young shoots, which are used in salads. The delicate, light green, peppery-flavoured leaves are rich in vitamin C. Since watercress grown near cattle and sheep feedlots can become contaminated by feces containing cysts of the liver fluke, agent of the illness fascioliasis (liver rot), regulations specify that commercial watercress beds be protected from such pollution.

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watercress

1. an Old World plant, Nasturtium officinale, of clear ponds and streams, having pungent leaves that are used in salads and as a garnish: family Brassicaceae (crucifers)

2. any of several similar or related plants

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watercress [′wȯd·ər‚kres]

(botany)

Nasturtium officinale.A perennial cress generally grown in flooded soil beds and used for salads and food garnishing.

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Watercress 

(Nasturtium officinale), a perennial herbaceous plant of the Cruciferae family. Its stem is thick, hollow, and 10-60 cm high; the lower part of the stem is decumbent and rooting. The leaves are pinnatisect, the blossoms are small and white, and the fruits are pods. Watercress grows near streams and irrigation ditches as well as in stagnant reservoirs and other moist places in Western Europe, North Africa, and Southwest Asia as far as India, in the USSR it is found in the central and southern zones of the European part, in the Caucasus, and in Middle Asia. The young shoots and leaves (and sometimes seeds) are used as a pungent seasoning and in salads. Watercress is cultivated in Western Europe and in the USA and other countries.

REFERENCE

Ipat’ev, A. N. Ovoshchnye rasteniia zemnogo shara. Minsk, 1966.

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Watercress 

(Nasturtium), a genus of perennial plants of the family Cruciferae. The leaves are pinnatisect, the petals are small and white, and the fruit is a short pod. There are six species in the temperate zone of Eurasia (to Afghanistan and Central Asia), in North Africa, in the mountains of tropical Africa, and in North America. In the USSR there is one species, common watercress (N. officinale), an edible plant (the leaves contain vitamin C, carotin, and iodine).

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Watercress 

(Rorippa), a genus of plants of the family Cruciferae. They are annual, biennial, or perennial grasses with pinnatisect or entire leaves. The petals are yellow. The fruit is a pod or a cilicle. There are about 70 species, found primarily in the temperate zone. In the USSR there are about ten species, growing in humid and marshy places and in sluggishly flowing water. Marsh cress (R. islandica) and yellow cress (R. amphibia) are quite common. The plants of the latter grow in water and are graphic examples of heterophylly.