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Nasturtium officinale
Also called Water-cress, Yellowcress
Watercress is a fast-growing aquatic perennial in the cabbage family, grown for its peppery leaves and shoots. It thrives in clean, cool, slightly alkaline water, such as running streams or a constantly wet, shallow tray.
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 Eurasia. 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.
Watercress cultivation is practical on both a large scale and a garden scale. Being semi-aquatic, watercress is well-suited to hydroponic cultivation, thriving best in water that is slightly alkaline. It is frequently produced around the headwaters of chalk streams. In many local markets, the demand for hydroponically grown watercress exceeds supply, partly because cress leaves are unsuitable for distribution in dried form and can be stored fresh for only 2–3 days.
Also sold as sprouts, the edible shoots are harvested days after germination. If unharvested, watercress can grow to a height of 50 to 120 cm (1+1⁄2 to 4 ft).
An aquatic vegetable or herb, watercress has grown in many temperate locations worldwide.
Moroccan Watercress · Florida yellowcress · Onerow yellowcress
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Watercress by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
