All plants /Ground /Peppergrass
Peppergrass
Lepidium virginicum, mustard family. Abundant in East and Central and West Texas.
At a glance
- What
- Leaves and green seed pods
- How
- Raw as a peppery green and seasoning
- When
- Spring into summer
- Where
- Roadsides, fields, disturbed ground
- Value
- Vitamin C; a free pepper-cress
Caution: A safe mustard-family plant; confirm the peppery taste and the tiny round flat pods. Never eat a wild plant on this guide's word alone. Confirm identity against several sources and learn the look-alikes first.
Identification
A wiry weed hung with hundreds of tiny round flat green pods up the stem. Chew a leaf or pod: sharp black pepper and cress.
Uses
The green pods are a wild pepper and caper both; scatter the leaves and pods into salads for free heat.
Photo: Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0, 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.