Watercress

Economical & Nutritional Value

Medicinal Uses

Valuable for its antiscourbotic qualities and has been used as such from the earliest times. Culpepper 17th century says that bruised leaves or juice 1 to 2 ounces will free the face of blemishes and spots, dosage: expressed juice in 2 fluid ounces. Used as a specific in tuberculosis and useful against catarrh, chronic irritations and inflammations of skin, rheumatism, bladder and kidney complaints. Dosage Infusion, two teaspoon fulls in cup. It promotes appetite in a salad.

Edible Uses

Is widely cultivated in S.England in damned waterways for its chemical propeties and widely used as a salad vegtable. S.A.S. handbook recommends: "Do not confuse with hemlock. Leaves and stems edible raw in small amounts. Boil well if water polluted."

Collated by James M. Burton as part of H.N.D. course at Pencoed
Agricultural College. Taxanomical information correct as of 06:06:97.