365 Urban Species. #119: Shepherd's Purse

[urbpan]

Photo by cottonmanifesto

Urban species #119: Shepherd's purse Capsella bursapastoris

I must confess, I don't know what "purses" shepherd carried or perhaps presently carry, or where these purse carrying shepherds live or lived. However it's a fair guess that these were Mediterranean shepherds, as this plant hails from that region. The "purses" are the little triangular or heart-shaped seed pods that the plant bears.

Shepherd's purse is yet another European mustard that has become an urban weed in North America. Shepherd's purse sprouts early in the year, and flowers before most other herby plants. It can grow in poor soil, and can even sprout from cracks in the pavement.

Its uses include edible greens (salad or cooked) of high nutritional value, and edible seeds. The seeds can be eaten raw from the pods or ground into a flour, as apparently some Native Americans did. It seems like gathering shepherd's purse seeds would be fairly labor-intensive, but the plant certainly grows in large enough amounts to make it potentially worth it. Many birds eat the seeds of this weed, and its seeds are sometimes included in birdseed mixes.





(hey, I took that one!)

Comments

[droserary.livejournal.com]

Another of my favorite, ubiquitous weeds. Another interesting note: The seeds of Shepherd's Purse, when wet, secrete a mucilage that can trap and kill aquatic insects. This makes Shepherd's Purse a protocarnivorous (or borderline carnivorous) plant, although it's one of the more disputed ones.

[bezigebij.livejournal.com]

Neat to know.

[bezigebij.livejournal.com]

This has long been a well loved plant in my world. I have distinct memories of collecting the hearts as a child and giving them to my mother.

[momomom.livejournal.com]

I too loved this plant from childhood on. Funny enough, I played that the hearts were spoons and set fairy tables with them.

However, today, on the strength of your words alone...I tasted the seeds. Oh icky poo! LOL

They wouldn't be difficult to gather though. The almost jump off the stalk as one rubs it between 2 fingers and the seed fall out of the pods at the same time. It would be easy to filter the seeds through a little screen...although why one would want to is another question.

[(Anonymous)]

You can grind a flour out of them.

[miwasatoshi.livejournal.com]

The seeds are ... peppery is the best way to describe them. I last had them in elementary school :)