Hairy Bittercress / Spring / Summer / Autumn / Winter / Edible

Botanical name

Cardamine hirsuta

Scientific Classification

Kingdom – Plantae

Order –Brassicales 

Family – Brassicaceae

Physical Characteristics for Hairy Bittercress

Hairy bittercress is a very successful plant and, in the UK, will go through its life cycle several times between spring and early winter

Leaves

Forms a rosette of leaves made up of pairs of leaflets and terminating in a palmate leaf. The leaves are covered in tiny hairs.

Flowers

Hairy Bittercress puts up a flower stalk that can reach up to 30 cm in height but is usually much shorter, that produces a cluster of small white flowers. 

Seeds

Those flowers become long thin seed pods about 2.5 cm long, that explosively eject numerous small seeds.

Habitat

Disturbed earth, cracks in pavements, open ground, turf, plant pots, walls – any tiny bit of soil it can find!

Known hazards

No known hazards.

Could be confused with

Other members of the Cardamine family, all of which are edible. Or, young Watercress (Nastertium Officinale), which is also edible – plants growing in waterways in the UK should be cooked first.

Edible uses

All parts of the plants are edible and taste strongly of cress. However, the flower stalk can get quite woody. Hairy Bittercress has a lovely flavour to add to a salad and, like cress, works very well with scrambled eggs or egg mayonnaise.

Notes on Herbal Uses

Some circumstantial evidence suggests that Hairy Bittercress may have anti-tumour properties. 
Please see your doctor if you have a medical problem

Extra notes from the Foragers

Cardamine comes from the Greek Kardamon, meaning cress-like. Hirsuta means hairy, which is in references to the hairs on the leaves of Hairy Bittercress.

Butterflies, which it provides an early source of nectar for.