How do you identify a Bittercress?

Bittercress is easy to spot in a patch of weeds or grass. It grows in a compact, basal rosette form – which is to say, its leaves all radiate out from around the base. Each leaf stalk has 5-9 paired leaflets, shaped somewhat like a kidney bean or a ginkgo leaf, with a single terminal leaflet at the end.

Can you eat Pennsylvania Bittercress?

Pennsylvania bittercress These tender leaves and stems can be eaten raw or cooked, but don’t delay. You’ll see them in April in most areas, and that’s about it for the year.

What part of Bittercress is edible?

What you may not realize as you’re hoeing or pulling weeds, is that although it may look like just another stubborn invader, hairy bittercress actually has a pungent, peppery flavor and many uses in the kitchen. The entire plant is edible, including the blooms.

How do you know if you have a hairy bittercress?

Seedlings: Hairy Bittercress cotyledons (3 mm long (~1/10”)) are rounded, hairy on the surface, and form on long petioles. The weed’s first 2 true leaves are kidney- to heart-shaped. The subsequent leaves that emerge on the plant have 2-4 pairs of alternate leaflets and a larger terminal leaflet.

Is chickweed the same as bittercress?

The leaves have a red-purple tinge to them, and the pink flowers peek out from beneath the foliage. The chickweed grows low and spreads. The bittercress is that weed with a rosette of disk-shaped leaves and a slender stalk capped in clusters of white flowers.

How do I get rid of bittercress?

If you are finding hairy bittercress on your lawn, chemical control is an option that involves applying a preemergence herbicide in late summer before the seeds germinate or applying postemergence herbicide to young and actively growing weeds in lawns.

What is bittercress used for?

Being in the brassica family bittercress has many health benefits. It contains glucosinolates which are known to help remove carcinogens from the body. It also contains, vitamin C, beta-carotine, and possibly lutein which is known to help reduce vision problems including cataracts.

What do you do with bittercress?

Pulling out hairy bittercress weed usually leaves the root behind. The plant will re-sprout from healthy weeds and the problem persists. You can, however, use a long slim weeding tool to dig down and around the taproot and get all the plant material out of the ground. Mowing will achieve control over time.

How do I get rid of hairy bittercress in my lawn?

Is bittercress good for gardens?

Bittercress waits until spring to produce white flowers, and the shallow-rooted plants are easy to pull up after they have elongated and begun to bloom. In some areas bittercress serves as an off-season haven for at least two species of aphids, making it useful as an aphid trap crop.

Is bittercress a perennial?

Photo by Erin Hill, MSU. Hairy bittercress is a winter annual weed. Its seeds germinate in fall beginning as early as September.

Is hairy bittercress poisonous to dogs?

As long as it has not set seed, you can add hairy bittercress to your compost pile. If it has not come into contact with herbicides, pesticides, or your dog’s bathroom habits, the leaves (not the fibrous flower stalks or seed pods) are also edible and quite nutritious.