Sisymbrium officinale 

‘Hedge Mustard’

[Ex. Co. Durham, England]

Brassicaceae: annual growing to 0.6 m (2ft) by 0.3 m (1ft in). Small four petalled flowers on wire like stalks. Blooming from June to July. The basal leaves are deeply pinnately-lobed and typically grow to around 15-20cm long. Found growing in hedge banks, uncultivated ground, waste ground, the sites of ruined buildings etc. It is a fairly common weed of cultivated land. Native to Europe, including Britain, south and east from Scandinavia to North Africa and the Near East.

USES:

The young shoots can be eaten raw or cooked, and have a bitter cabbage-like flavour, they are used as a flavouring in salads or cooked as a potherb. The seed can be used raw or cooked, and can be ground into a powder and used as a gruel or as a mustard-like flavouring in soups.

The whole plant is said to have antiaphonic, diuretic, expectorant, laxative and stomachic properties. This plant was at one time known as the 'singer's plant' because of its use in treating loss of the voice. A strong infusion of the whole plant has been used in the treatment of throat complaints. Excessive doses can affect the heart. The dried plant is almost inactive, so it should only be used when freshly harvested.

GROWING INFORMATION:

Sow seeds in spring or autumn. An easily grown plant, it succeeds in most soils but prefers a moist to dry acid to alkaline soil in full sun or light shade. A food plant for the caterpillars of several butterfly and moth species. The plant has a peculiar aptitude for collecting and retaining dust, this means that when growing near roads or other polluted places the leaves are seldom edible.

HARVESTED:

APPROX. 200+ SEEDS