Barbarea vulgaris (Winter-cress)
Is it a native species? Yes
Where do you find it? It is widespread and frequent in Ireland.
What crop is it related to? It is a member of the cabbage family, so is related to lots of commonly used crops e.g., broccoli, cabbage, turnip, radish, cauliflower, oilseed rape
What is its lifecycle? Perennial
Where does it grow? It grows on waste ground,roadsides and field margins
What does it look like? The flowers are small and yellow with 4 petals; the leaves are shiny and dark green. It can grow to 85-90cm tall.
Was it used in Ireland in the past? Yes, before we had access to citrus fruits, it was a good source of vitamin C
Interesting facts:
1. The name Barbarea comes from Saint Barbara, the patron saint of artillerymen and miners. In the past poulticed leaves from the plant were used to soothe wounds causing by explosions.
2. Barbarea vulgaris is naturally resistant to some insect pests. Diamond back moth females are stimulated by chemicals in the plant to lay their eggs on it, but the larvae then die due to saponins in the plants leaves. This phenomenon has been tested for biological insect control. B. vulgaris plants are placed in a field and attract much of the diamondback moth egg load, with the larvae then dying shortly after hatching. This kind of insect control is called ‘dead-end trap cropping’.
Try it out:
Young leaves can be eaten raw in salad or cooked like spinach.
Other sources of information:
