Nasturtium

Parts Usually Used

Flowers, leaves, seeds

Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Nasturtium is an annual plant 1 foot tall, 2 feet wide; sometimes a variety has a trailing or climbing stem grows 5-10 feet long; bears small, almost round, radially veined leaves. Red, orange, or yellow flowers, larger than the leaves, bloom from June to October. There are single and double flower varieties.

Where Found

Native to South America but cultivated in gardens all over the world. Sometimes used to keep insects from cucumbers in the garden.

Medicinal Properties

Antiseptic, expectorant

Legends, Myths and Stories

Fresh leaves and flowers, with their peppery flavor similar to watercress, are good in salads or chopped and combined with cream cheese or butter in canapés and sandwiches. The unripe seed pods can be pickled and used as a substitute for capers. According to the daughter of Linnaeus, the blossoms of Nasturtium have been observed to emit electric sparks towards evening. It is seen most distinctly with the eye partly closed.

In Alsace the nasturtium flowers are added to fermenting wine to impart a particular pungency. Nasturtium is planted as a companion to radishes, cabbage, and cucumbers; plant under fruit trees. Deters aphids, squash bugs, white flies, striped pumpkin beetles and improves growth and flavor. The common name of T. majus should not be confused with Nasturtium officinalis, commonly known as watercress.

The name tropaeolum is derived from the latin tropaeum, for trophy, and was an allusion to the shield-like leaves and helmet-like flowers.

Uses

Traditional herbalists used nasturtium to address congestion in the respiratory passages and symptoms associated with colds. The plant was prepared as a juice or tea to assist digestion, and folk traditions historically regarded it as a blood purifier that was thought to encourage the formation of blood cells.

How Sold

Seeds can be obtained from any nursery

Bibliography

The Herbalist Almanac , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1988, fifth printing, 1994 The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974. Chinese Medicinal Herbs , compiled by Shih-Chen Li, Georgetown Press, San Francisco, California, 1973. , Pantheon Books, Knopf Publishing Group, New York, 1994, first edition The Magic of Herbs , by David Conway, published by Jonathan Cape, Thirty Bedford Square, London, England.

(Out of print) The Nature Doctor: A Manual of Traditional and Complementary Medicine , by Dr. A. , 27 Pine Street (Box 876) New Canaan, CT. 06840-0876. Copyright Verlag A. , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023 The Rodale Herb Book: How to Use, Grow, and Buy Nature’s Miracle Plants (An Organic gardening and farming book) , edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. , 1974