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Lepidium latifolium

Common name:	Dittander	Family:	Cruciferae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	17
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Europe, including Britain, from Scandanavia south and east to N. Africa and W. Asia.
Habitat:	Salt marshes and wet sands[17] on the south and east coasts[5].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Cardaria latifolia[B]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Broad-leaf Pepperwort [B], Broadleaved Pepperweed [P], Dittander [L], Krambe Agria [E], Lepidio [E], Peperkers [D], Perennial Pepperweed [FEIS,L],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	latifolium = broad leaved
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Capparales. Renamed to Brassicaceae -- Mustard family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Spain Us
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming.

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 1.2m by 1m . It is hardy to zone 6 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from June to July, and the seeds ripen from July to August. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in saline soil. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil. The plant can tolerate maritime exposure.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Meadow, Woodland, Cultivated Beds, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade.

Edible Uses

Condiment Leaves Root.

Young leaves - raw or cooked[2, 61, 74]. A very hot cress-like flavour[K]. The leaves are nice when used in small quantities as a flavouring in salads[K]. Some reports also suggest using them as a potherb[183], though they have always seemed to be too strong for us to want to try this[K]. The leaves are available very early in the year[K].
Root - it can be grated and made into a sauce which is used as a horseradish substitute[2, 5, 183]. It has a pungently hot flavour.
Seed - used as a condiment[177, 183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antiscorbutic Depurative Hepatic Kidney Resolvent Stomachic.

The plant is antiscorbutic, depurative and stomachic[61, 240]. An infusion of the plant is used in the treatment of liver and kidney diseases, it increases cardiac amplitude, decreases frequency and regulates the rhythm[240]. It is also used as a resolvent in the treatment of skin diseases[240].

Other Uses

Insecticide.

Used as an insecticide[100]. No further details are given, but it is likely to be a strong infusion of the leaves and stems that is used.

Cultivation details

A very easily grown plant, it succeeds in most soils in sun or light shade. Plants have been surviving quite happily with us, and are still spreading freely, in dense grass that is rarely cut[K].
Dittander was formerly cultivated as a food condiment in Britain and in ancient Greece[17, 183]. It is a very invasive plant, capable of spreading more than a metre per year by means of its aggressive root system[K]. It produces new growth early in the year and so can be a useful salad ingredient in late winter[K].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in the spring.
Division in spring. Plant them out direct into their permanent positions. Division is very simple and succeeds at almost any time of the year[K].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[FEIS] Data (Uses, Ecology, Fire Effects) from the USDA Forestry Service Fire Effects Information System.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[5] Mabey. R. Food for Free. Collins 1974 ISBN 0-00-219060-5
Edible wild plants found in Britain. Fairly comprehensive, very few pictures and rather optimistic on the desirability of some of the plants.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[74] Komarov. V. L. Flora of the USSR. Israel Program for Scientific Translation 1968
An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers.

[100] Polunin. O. Flowers of Europe - A Field Guide. Oxford University Press 1969 ISBN 0192176218
An excellent and well illustrated pocket guide for those with very large pockets. Also gives some details on plant uses.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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