USEFUL WILD PLANTS 



that have been proved of worth. Water-cress, 

 known to everybody {Nasturtium officinale, K. Br.) 

 and originally introduced, at least in the East, from 

 Europe, is now a common aquatic throughout a large 

 I)art of the United States and Canada. The waters 

 of springs and brooks are often found thickly 

 blanketed with green coverlets of this plant dotted 

 with the tiny white flowers, and lending spice to the 

 wayfarer's luncheon. Winter Cress, Yellow Rocket, 

 or Barbara's Cress {Barharea vulgaris, R. Br.) used 

 to be very generally eaten by people of humble 

 gastronomic aspirations, so that it has acquired the 

 additional name of Poor Man's Cabbage, being pre- 

 I)ared either as a pot-herb or as a salad. It is 

 abundant by roadsides and in low-lying fi'elds quite 

 across the continent, and, in fact, almost around the 

 world, and was no doubt cultivated in our colonial 

 gardens. Even in winter, when the snow melts 

 enough to show bare patches of earth, the tufted, 

 thickish leaves of this sturdy mustard are frequently 

 revealed, green and alive, hugging the ground. The 

 lower leaves are of the shape that botanists call 

 lyrate — that is, long and deeply lobed, with one to 

 four pairs of segments and a terminal one large and 

 roundish. In early spring it sends up a spike of 

 showy, yellow, four-petaled flowers. Quite similar 



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