Do you know sea cress? Maybe so, but with another name, since there are several. Maybe you’ve even seen it on occasion or something. This small-flowered plant grows in Mediterranean regions and is used to decorate parks and gardens.
If you want to know more about this beautiful plant, I recommend that you keep reading. we will explain what is sea cress, where to find it and we will discuss a curious story related to it.
What is sea cress?
When we talk about sea cress, we are referring to the plant Sea lobular either Alyss maritimum. It is a plant species that is part of the Brassicaceae family. There are many common names it gets, For example alyssum or sea alder due to its previous classification, sessile alder, lady broquelets, whitebeard, silver broquelets, broad broquelets, white grass, watercress, honey flower, sea cress, milk foam and always in flower.
This multi-named vegetable is a perennial that It lives in regions with warm climates. It is usually between four and thirty centimeters high and is slightly lignified at the base. The leaves are oval and small, with a length ranging from one to four centimeters and a width of three to five millimeters. They have a slight whitish tone which is due to the fact that they are covered with very short, finite hairs.
As for the inflorescence of the sea cress, it is generally made up of numerous small purple or white flowers depending on the variety. Each of them has four petals. One of the main characteristics of this plant is that its flowers give off a fragrance throughout the growing season (or all year round in regions where there is no winter frost). reminiscent of honey. It should be noted that as the flowers fertilize and open, the inflorescences elongate.
culture and dissemination
Sea cress is native to Macaronesia, which would be the Azores and the Canary Islands, and the Mediterranean region. We find these vegetables and their precious flowers in a wide range of habitats. They proliferate perfectly in coastal areas as well as in high mountains. In the Iberian Peninsula, for example, sea cress is found in the highest areas of the Sierra Nevada. In addition, this species has also gained ground in more temperate regions.
At a more domestic level, to decorate gardens or parks, seacress is usually used as a tapestry or as a rockery plant. It is ideal for this, as its seeds germinate very easily and it is not a very tall vegetable. When planting, we need to do it in early spring. Once it has started to grow, the care we need to provide is minimal. To obtain a more powerful flowering, it is better to remove faded flowers. Regarding location, sea cress prefers full sun. However, it can tolerate partial shade. Note that it is a plant very resistant to both heat and drought.
Also note that sea cress is used in herbalism. there they use it as a natural diuretic, since it is useful when it comes to eliminating kidney stones.
Curious history of sea cress
It was in 1649 that Nicholas Culpeper, an English botanist, first discovered sea cress. This vegetable is native to the Azores islands, and it was there that its discoverer collected a specimen of it to carry out various tests and determine its medicinal uses. And he succeeded. Nicholas Culpeper discovered that this plant had the ability to alleviate a fairly common problem: kidney stones. Since then, the British always carried a copy of this plant on their sea voyages. Kidney stones were very common during long boat trips. Indeed, the diets on board were very high in sodium. However, the British realized that the vegetable was dying. During a stopover in the Columbretes Islands, he decides to plant it on the ground.
Centuries later, in 1762, another French botanist called at these islands to repair the ship he was traveling on. There he realized that watercress had mutated, it was no longer the same. This mutation had to be made to adapt to the climate of the Columbretes Islands. He named this new species Lobularia maritima columbretensis. After conducting a geomorphological study of the land, he came to the conclusion that this variety would only grow on these islands. Even today, this vegetable continues to coexist with sea cress.
It never ceases to amaze how flexible and intelligent nature can be. Seeing how various species, both plant and animal, are able to adapt to conditions and evolve is truly amazing.