Tropaeolum brachyceras

Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com
Tue, 06 Apr 2010 11:56:47 PDT
Water cress, Nasturtium officinale  (aka Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum) is
brassicaceous. The word nasturtium (from the Latin for to scrunsch up the
nose) describes the way some people react to the smell/taste of watercress
or garden nasturtiums.

What intrigues me is that the old guys were on to something, something more
modern taxonomists with a focus on morphology would have dismissed as too
subjective (as if morphology itself were objective). Presumably the
nose-twisting taste of the brassicaceous water cress and other brassicaceous
cresses and the nose-twisting taste of garden nasturtiums is an inheritance
from a common ancestor. A prejudice against non-morphological criteria
marginalized the significance of this shared biochemical characteristic -
until now. 

By the way, David, when you said that you still like it in sandwiches, did
you mean garden nasturtium or water cress or both? With cream cheese or
without?  Brown bread or white? 

Jim McKenney
jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com
Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone
7, where the thermometer in the shade has been sitting on 90 degrees F ( >32
degrees C) for hours. Is this April 6 or July 6? I need a watercress
sandwich and an iced tea. 
My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/
BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/
 
Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS 
Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ 
 
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