cress, Lepidium sativum

Lepidium always seemed to be a genus of plants that pop up in exposed ground, whether you want them there or not. Actually, with those little, sometimes tiny, white flowers, why care? So it was fun to learn of one that someone does care about. This is such a popular vegetable in the Old World that it is just called cress. Over here, it is usually called garden cress, because we don't eat enough cress to assume this is the subject, rather than water cress or all those other cresses. We probably should care more and eat more. It is tasty and very nutritious. Now it persists here from old gardens and occasional new ones in CA, CO, CT, DE, IL, IN, MA, ME, MI, MN, MT, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, UT, VA, VT, WA, WY, AB, BC, MB, NB, NS, NT, ON, PE, QC, SK, YT, and on GL and SPM. Clearly this was once more popular. Beal Gardens, MSU, 6/23/14. Mustard family, Brassicaceae.