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Lepidium didymum
Brassicaceae FAMILY

Lepidium didymum

Lepidium didymum

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
3/5

Safety & Hazards

Cows may produce off-flavoured milk when they have been fed with grass mixed with Lepidium didymum. It has been suggested that this is caused by the inhibitory actions of benzyl isothiocyanate present in the plant on microbial and/or enzymatic activities inthe rumen of the cows[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitAnnual/Biennial
Growth—

After germination, Lepidium didymum plants develop rapidly. They often complete their life cycle within a few months[1]. The whole plant has a foetid smell[2].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring or autumn in situ. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Lepidium+didymum>

Pollinators

Self

References

  1. [1]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
  2. [2]Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk — http://www.hear.org/pier/scientificnames/index.html ↩︎A very good website detailing weed species that have been introduced into the Pacific Islands.
  3. [3]Flora of N. America — http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ ↩︎An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses.
  4. [4]Flora of the British Isles. — Clapham, Tutin and Warburg. · Cambridge University Press · 1962 · ISBN - ↩︎A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
  5. [5]Gray's Manual of Botany.Eighth Edition — Fernald. M. L. · American Book Co.; New York · 1950 · ISBN 0442222505 ↩︎A bit dated but a good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.
  6. [6]Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas — Diggs, Jnr. G.M.; Lipscomb. B. L. & O'Kennon. R. J · Botanical Research Institute, Texas. · 1999 · http://artemis.austincollege.edu/acad/bio/gdiggs/NCTXpdf.htm · ISBN 1-889878-01-4 ↩︎An excellent flora, which is also available on-line.
  7. [7]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
  8. [8]Plants for Human Consumption. — Kunkel. G. · 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.
  9. [9]Wild Food in Australia. — Cribb. A. B. and J. W. · Fontana · 1976 · ISBN 0-00-634436-4 ↩︎A very good pocket guide.
  10. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎