50 Seeds w/Instructions
Rich in vitamin C, this is a well sailed plant known not only to the Vikings. This biennial perennial reaches 12 inches tall and grows along coastal areas and in salt marshes. It is used as a citrus substitute. Leaves are heart or spoon shaped, typically dark green, grow from the base of the plant in a rosette, surrounding a flowering stem that grows during the summer months. Flowers clusters are typically white but are sometimes tinged with purple, around ½†to 1†across. Zone 1-7.
Its popularity comes from the 19th century, when it was taken aboard ships as a preventative for vitamin C deficiency before citrus fruits were readily available. In the 1850's spoonwort extract was a fashionable breakfast drink, much like orange juice today. A few smaller leaves or the flower heads mixed in a salad, served on Fish and Oysters, a little chopped into a stir-fry, crushed and blended into dressings, the seed pods used like capers or pickled as a side. It can be dried or distilled for extracts.
Spoonwort was also used for gout, arthritis, stomachache, and fluid retention and as a “blood purifier.†A potent medicinal herb with many benefits.
Other: Wild medicine, sea lettuce, wild food, skjorbuksurt, sea vegetable, sea herb, sea rocket, hardy herb, wild herb, salt water plant, marsh vegetable, aquatic vegetable, medicinal herb, seafood vegetable, seafood herb, rare herb, Watercress, Scurvygrass, rare herb seeds, cochlearia officinalis, crucifera cochlearia var. officinalis, draba cochlearioideseutrema rossii
