Because it prefers cold, clear water, the green is most often found in creeks, especially near the sites of the old springhouses I mentioned earlier. (Those small structures generally contained a "trough" of icy spring water, in which crocks of milk or other perishables were set before the days of refrigeration.) Planted just outside those "houses" by the early settlers who knew its value as a spring tonic, watercress helped prevent scurvy-back in the days when it was virtually impossible to find fresh fruit or vegetables during the winter months. According to Jones, besides Vitamin C, watercress is rich in iron, calcium, copper, potassium, and magnesium, as well as Vitamins A, B2, D, E. Like many other sulfur-containing plants, it also fights cancer.
Perhaps due to its Vitamin C content, watercress and watercress tea are recommended in James Duke's The Green Pharmacy for alleviating colds and gingivitis. Duke relates that, back in the 1800's, Chinese workers on the San Francisco railroad also discovered the plant was helpful in treating tuberculosis. In China, John Heinerman reports in his Encyclopedia of Fruits, Vegetables, and Herbs, it is used in soups to relieve mouth problems such as canker sores. He suggests watercress also be steeped in vinegar and applied with a cloth to the forehead to soothe headaches. In Herbal Medicine, Dian Dincin Buchman asserts that watercress will "counteract postparty fatigue and alcoholic fumes" and that it "is also useful to offset the smell and taste of smoking." Scientists have discovered that the PEITC in watercress may also help offset the carcinogens in tobacco.
The ancients knew the plant was good for them, even if they didn't know why! Hippocrates supposedly constructed his hospital near a stream, so he could get his hands on watercress whenever he needed it. The plant was often fed to slaves and soldiers to increase their stamina and so came to stand, in the Language of Flowers, for "stability and power." The Greeks thought it sharpened the wits, and many cultures considered it an aphrodisiac.
Watercress lends a bit of zing to spring salads and sandwiches too, and makes a perky garnish for other foods. And, perhaps most revitalizing of all, it will give us adults an excellent excuse to go play in the creek again!
Note: Nasturtium officinale image is from Otto Wilhelm Thomé's Flora von Deutschland Österreich und der Schweiz, courtesy of the Texas Vascular Plant Image Gallery at http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/gallery . Photos are by author, all rights reserved, and may not be copied or reproduced without permission.
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