All plants /Ground /Hairy Bittercress
Hairy Bittercress
Cardamine hirsuta, mustard family. Common in East and Central Texas.
At a glance
- What
- Whole young rosette
- How
- Raw as a cress
- When
- Cool season
- Where
- Gardens, pots, moist lots
- Value
- Vitamin C; a peppery cress
Caution: A safe, mild mustard; harvest from unsprayed ground. Never eat a wild plant on this guide's word alone. Confirm identity against several sources and learn the look-alikes first.
Identification
A small rosette of round-lobed leaflets that fires its ripe seed pods at a touch. One of the first fresh things in a winter garden.
On the trail
Snip the whole young rosette for a fresh peppery cress; it fades fast once it flowers.
Photo: Kevin Thiele from Perth, Australia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Forages well with
Forage safely. Never eat a wild plant on this site's word alone. Confirm identity with several sources, learn the look-alikes, and when in doubt, leave it in the ground.