An Introduction to Field Botany

10/8/2020

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Purpose of this module: 1. How to understand the Brassicacea (Cruciferae) or Mustard Family

What you will learn: 1. This family of plants has over 3700 species that have substantial economic value. 2. These species have been bread over millennia for life sustaining food crops 3. Surprisingly, many common foods world wide fit into these species.

An Introduction to Field Botany

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Part One: Family Characteristics

Brassicacea (Cruciferae)

• The Mustard family consists of about 3,700 species of medium-sized and economically important flowering plants known informally as mustard flowers or crucifers

• The importance of this family for food crops has led to its selective breeding throughout history. • Examples of cruciferous food plants are the cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, turnip, rapeseed, mustard, radish, horseradish, cress, wasabi, and watercress.

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Brassicacea

• Flowers consist of 4 petals arranged in a cross (X) shape or an H-shape • They may be deeply split making it appear there are 8 petals • Mustards have 4 sepals and 6 stamens (2 stamens are short and 4 are long) • Flowers form a raceme on the stalk © 2020, www.KnowYourWellness.org

Brassicacea • Ovaries are superior and have two united carpels (bicarpellate) forming a single chamber. • Fruits are a unique kind of capsule (a dry fruit) called a silicle or silique. As they dry, the outside walls fall away, exposing the seeds and leaving a translucent interior. The shape of the fruits helps in identifying the plants • The leaves are alternate, sometimes organized in basal rosettes.

Mustard Family Energetics • Mostly of herbaceous plants • Many species are germinate rapidly and are fast-growing with short lifespans • Flowers are short-lived and rapidly go to fruit and seed • Many grow in the spring and early summer • Often very “weedy,” like to grow in disturbed, barren soils and other inhospitable habitats (near the seashore, high altitudes, deserts, rocky areas, etc.)

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Very Safe Family

• Many also have bright white, yellow and sometimes orange flowers • None are highly toxic and many are edible and medicinal • They are most easily distinguished by the various fruits they produce

• Plants typically contain varying amounts of sulfur Sulfur Plants compounds (glycosides), giving them a warming stimulating quality • Sulfur acts on proteins and accelerates protein metabolism • Many of these plants aid digestion, especially the digestion of proteins • These sulfur compounds also aid liver detoxification and may be beneficial in boosting the immune system or fighting infection

Part Two: Cruciferous Vegetables

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Brassica Genus

• About 30 wild species and numerous cultivated varieties • Members of this genus are known as cruciferous vegetables • This genus includes mustard, rapeseed (canola), rutabaga, various cabbages, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi and turnips

Photos from Wikipedia—Top: Brassica juncea (mustard), Bottom: Mustard seeds

Brassica oleracea • Broccoli • Cabbage • Cauliflower • Kale • Collard greens • Brussel’s sprouts • Kohlrabi And others…

Broccoli and Turnip Flowers

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Cabbage • B. oleracea var. oleracea • Contains indole-3-carbonol and other compounds which aid liver detoxification • Leaves have been used as poultices • Cabbage juice has been used to heal ulcers • Contains fermentable carbohydrates, which can cause intestinal gas • Fermented to make sauerkraut, a great food for probiotics and digestive health

Cabbage Top: Wikipedia; Bottom: Adobe stock

Broccoli • Brassica oleracea var. italica • Aids sulfation in the liver • High in vitamins C and K

Cauliflower

• Brassica oleracea var. botrytis • Orange cauliflower contains beta carotene • Purple cauliflower has anthocyanins

Cauliflower photos from Wikipedia

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Kale

• Brassica oleracea var. sabellica • One of the most nutritionally dense foods on the planet

Kale photos from Adobe Stock and Thinkstock

Brassica rapa • Turnip • Napa cabbage • Bok choy (B. rapa chinensis) • Broccoli rabe Turnip (top right) from Adobe Stock Below (right to left) fromm Wikipedia: Broccoli rape, Bok choy, Napa cabbage

Raphanus Genus • Genus for radishes • Annual or biennial plant with attractive four-petal flowers of white to purple color but sometimes light orange to yellow

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• Not the garden flowers Nasturtium Genus known as nasturtiums (which are in a different family) • Best known for watercress (Nasturtium officinale), an aquatic mustard used as a food and condiment • Contains iron, calcium, folic acid and vitamin C • Be sure to harvest only from clean water

Photo by Steven Horne

Part Three: Medicinal Plants

Mustards

• Sinapis alba (right) is grown for its seeds to produce yellow mustard • There is also a black mustard (Brassica nigra) • Seeds of other species also have a mustard flavor

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Capsella Genus

• Genus for Shepherd’s Purse, which is native to eastern Europe and Asia but is naturalized and considered a weed in many parts of the world • Commonly found in the spring, but can flower almost year round and is capable of producing several generations each year • Utah herbalist Max Barlow wrote an herb guide called “The Shepherd’s Purse” featuring Shepherd’s Purse as the first herb Capsella bursa-pastoris Photo from Wikipedia

Capsella bursa-pastoris

• Shepherd's Purse is so called from the resemblance of the flat seed-pouches of the plant to an old-fashioned common leather purse • Gently stimulates the kidneys and urinary tract • Relieves atonic catarrhal conditions and passive hemorrhage from the uterus and other organs • Inhibits increase in capillary permeability induced by histamine • Used for hemorrhoids, atonic enuresis, atonic menorrhagia and metrorrhagia, bleeding fibroid tumors, diarrhea and gout

Isatis Genus

• Isatis tinctoria (Dyer's Woad) • Native to the desert zones of Caucasus, central and western Asia and Eastern Siberia, but also found in central and southeastern Europe • Leaves have been an important source of indigo or blue dye since ancient times • Also used as a very cooling antiviral medicine

Phots from Wikipedia—Isatis tinctoria,

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Indications for Isatis • Toxic heat • Epidemic • High Fevers meningitis • Sore throat • Herpes Simplex • Influenza • Shingles (topically and • Measles internally • Mumps • Contraindications • Scarlet fever • Cold chronic • Pharyngitis conditions. • Long term use. • Laryngitis • Hepatitis

Lepidium Genus

• Includes about 175 species found worldwide • Also known as peppercress, peppergrass, and pepperwort • The leaves, shoots and fruits are edible. Leaves have a watercress-like taste, which is good for salads • Some species form tumbleweeds • Includes maca

Photos from Wikipedia—Top: Lepidium flavum, Bottom: I. latifolium

Peppergrass Examples

L. densiflorum L. virginicum L. Fremontii

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Lepidium meyenii (Maca)

Maca Uses • Maca is an endocrine adaptogen, and it works to regulate the hormones in the body. • By promoting healthy levels of estrogen and progesterone, Maca is used to help women dealing with the hormonal flux of PMS and menopause. • A rich source of minerals, the plant works to strengthen the immune system and can be helpful in cases of anemia. • The naturally occurring iodine in Maca, can be used to aid iodine deficient hypothyroidism. • Maca is used to enhance sexual performance, believed to work through the adrenal glands raising energy and stamina.

Armoracia Genus

• Genus for horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) • Roots are used as a condiment and medicinally • Can be grown in gardens

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Horseradish Uses

• Urinary: urinary tract infection, urinary stones, edema • Respiratory: cough, bronchitis • Digestive: gallbladder problems, poor digestion, intestinal gas, intestinal worms • Structural: gout, rheumatism, sciatic pain; used topically for joint inflammation and muscle aches • Other: expelling afterbirth • Topically, horseradish is used for inflamed joints or tissues and minor muscle aches. • Condiment

Photo from Wikipeda

Part Four: Other Mustards

Alyssum Genus • Consists of 100–170 species of flowering plants native to Europe, Asia, northern Africa, and the Mediterranean region • Has been renamed Lobularia genus • Annual and perennial herbaceous plants or small shrubs, growing to 10 – 100 cm tall. • Have oblong-oval leaves and yellow or white flowers. • A. maritima is the widely cultivated species known as “Sweet Alyssum.”

Photos from Wikipedia—Top: Alyssum montanum, Bottom: A. maritima

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Barbarea Genus • Plants in this genus are typically referred to as bittercress or rocketcress • B. vulgaris was traditionally used by miners to soothe the wounds caused by explosions • It is also used in agriculture as “dead- end trap cropping” for insect control

Cardamine Genus

• Commonly known as bittercress • More than 150 species of annuals and perennials grow worldwide • Leaves come in various forms and sizes • White, pink or purple flowers are minute to medium-sized • Bear long, thin dehiscent pods with many seeds • Some plants are reputed to have medicinal qualities

Photos from Wikipedia—Top: Cardamine bulbosaa, Bottom: C. pulcherrima

Erysimum Genus • Commonly known as wallflower • Includes about 180 species of both popular garden plants and many wild forms • Wallflowers are short-lived annual or perennial herbs or sub- shrubs with narrow and sessile leaves • Flowering occurs during spring and summer • Native to southwest Asia, Macronesia, and North America

Photos from Wikipedia—Top: Erysimum scoparium, Bottom: E. helveticum

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Sisymbrium Genus

• Also known as tall mustard, tumble mustard, tumbleweed mustard and tall hedge mustard • Native to the western Mediterranean Basin, Europe and Northern Africa, and is widely naturalized throughout North America • Grows in all soil textures – even sand. The plant germinates in winter or early spring. After maturing and blooming, the plant forms a tumbleweed Photos from Wikipedia—Sisymbrium altissimum (tumbleweed)

Cardaria Genus

• Also known as whitetop or hoary cress, this perennial herb reproduces by seeds and by horizontal creeping roots. • Native to western Asia and eastern Europe; an invasive species in North America • Leaves are alternating, simple, and mostly toothed • Slightly domed flower clusters that grow upward from various points off the branch Photos from Wikipedia—Top: Cardaria draba, Bottom: C. draba chalepensis

Turnip Cabbage

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Radish Bok Choy

Shepherd’s Purse Sweet Allysium