Common Name: Wild Pepper Grass

General Information

Lepidium virginicum is an annual to biennial plant growing 20 - 70cm tall. The erect stem is usually only branched towards the top, but is sometimes many-branched[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and medicine.
Originally from N. America, Lepidium virginicum has become a naturalized weed in many areas from the temperate zone to the tropics[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

, ,

Range

N. America - British Columbia, then Ontario and Quebec, south through much of the USA and Mexico to Honduras

Habitat

Roadsides, bottomlands, gravelly and sandy shores, waste grounds stream banks, grassy meadows, dry flats and stream beds, abandoned fields, woods, cliffs, plains, pastures, desert shrub communities, dry mountain slopes; at elevations to 2,600 metres[].

Properties

Weed Potential	Yes
Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Habit	Annual/Biennial
Height	0.50 m
Pollinators	Insects
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

An easily grown plant, it succeeds in most soils.

Edible Uses

Young leaves - raw or cooked[, , ]. The leaves are a rich source of vitamin C[] and have a hot cress-like flavour[]. Chopped finely and added to salads, used as a garnish or cooked as greens[].

Unripe seedpods have a pleasantly pungent flavour and can be eaten raw[] or used as a condiment in soups and stews[].

The seed is a pepper substitute[, ].

Medicinal

The leaves of wild pepper-grass are nutritious and generally detoxifying, they have been used to treat vitamin C deficiency and diabetes, and to expel intestinal worms[]. The herb is also diuretic and of benefit in easing rheumatic pain[, ]. A sweetened decoction of the plant is sometimes administered to babies suffering from colic, and it is a domestic remedy for affections of the stomach and intestines[].
North American Indians used the bruised fresh plant, or a tea made from the leaves to treat poison ivy rash and scurvy[]. A poultice of the leaves was applied to the chest in the treatment of croup[].

The seed is antiasthmatic, antitussive, cardiotonic and diuretic[]. It is used in the treatment of coughs and asthma with excessive phlegm, oedema, oliguria and liquid accumulation in the thoraco-abdominal cavity[].

The root is used to treat excess catarrh within the respiratory tract[].
A poultice of the bruised roots has been used to draw out blisters[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in situ. Germination usually takes place within 2 weeks.