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Concept
Watercress
Summary
Watercress or yellowcress (Nasturtium officinale) is a species of aquatic flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae.
Watercress is a rapidly growing perennial plant native to Europe and Asia. It is one of the oldest known leaf vegetables consumed by humans. Watercress and many of its relatives, such as garden cress, mustard, radish, and wasabi, are noteworthy for their piquant flavors.
The hollow stems of watercress float in water. The leaf structure is pinnately compound. Small, white, and green inflorescences are produced in clusters and are frequently visited by insects, especially hoverflies, such as Eristalis flies.
Watercress is listed in some sources as belonging to the genus Rorippa, although molecular evidence shows those aquatic species with hollow stems are more closely related to Cardamine than Rorippa. Despite the Latin name, watercress is not particularly closely related to the flowers popularly known as nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus). T. majus belongs to the family Tropaeolaceae, a sister taxon to the Brassicaceae within the order Brassicales.
In some regions, watercress is regarded as a weed, in other regions as an aquatic vegetable or herb. Watercress has grown in many temperate locations worldwide.
Clear fast-flowing chalk streams are the primary natural habitat for wild watercress in the British Isles.
Many settlements in England were named from Old English êacerse (êa..cerse) " water−cress ".
In the United Kingdom, watercress was first commercially cultivated in 1808 by the horticulturist William Bradbery along the River Ebbsfleet in Kent. Historically important areas of cultivation also included Hampshire,
Stamford, Lincolnshire, and St Albans, Hertfordshire.
Watercress is now grown in several counties of the United Kingdom, most notably Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, and Hertfordshire. The town of Alresford, near Winchester, is considered to be the nation's watercress capital.
Watercress leaves, stems, and fruit can be eaten raw.
Cultivated watercress has the advantage of being free of the liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica.
Official source
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