Dittander
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| Gardeners love testing new kinds of plants. Never mind if we
lack money to buy them or space to plant them. Every year some
new experiments must be tried. To not expand our collection is to stand
still. Some of us go so far as to pine for a regulation that all new
landscape plantings contain at least a percentage of untested plants. For the
only way to learn about a plant's merits is to grow it. In 1997, so far, my
own list of garden acquisitions new to me numbers 18 plants. |
| This includes only species, not mere garden varieties. To include
the latter, such as one kind or another of tomato or pepper, boosts the
total higher, but is less significant: the flavor and performance vary much,
but the general appearance and cultural needs are the same. |
| The only thing in common of my 18 new plants is they're all
edible, even ginseng, though it would be dumb of me to eat my only
specimen of that famous herb. All my new plants but 4 were bought at
local nurseries or plant sales; three were gifts from other gardeners; one
I plucked from the wild. |
| I was in Georgetown, at Gateway Park on the Duwamish River
(the end of 8th Avenue S), and was poking around looking at the plants by
an abandoned concrete structure --the Georgetown steam plant
intake building. One plant stumped me. It was a strong perennial,
partly evergreen, of the mustard family. Many were there, in big clumps. I
took a piece home and planted it, curiosity eating me up. By and by I
visited the library and sleuthed out the mysterious plant's identity:
Dittander (Lepidium latifolium), a European native which was cultivated as a
salad plant by the ancient Greeks. Its roots are a horseradish substitute. |
| Dittander favors salt marshes, whether in Europe or in the New
World. It has been found wild near Portland, also, and from Long Island
to Massachusetts. Overall it is rare, found on beaches, tidal shores and
waste ground. |
| My goal in growing it in ordinary garden conditions is to
discover whether it is a worthwhile salad plant to cultivate in Seattle. Someone
has to find out. Apparently no North American nurseries sell it. Its
previous role as an edible is lost in antiquity. Here's to resurrection of lost lore.
Be assured, if Dittander succeeds in my garden, I'll share starts with
friends, and no doubt some nurseries will begin selling it. This could be
the beginning of something special. It could prove a dud. Only one way
to find out. |
Dittander's flavor is hot and peppery, recalling mustard, cress
and nasturtium. Regarding looks, it won't win any beauty contests, nor is
it singularly ill favored. It certainly is tough, persistent and vigorous.
Its Latin name fails to pique my curiosity, but I wonder is Dittander
related to Dittany? The latter name, in use for various plants, originally
was applied to one abundant on Mount Dicte in Crete.
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(originally published in The Seattle Weekly, May 1997)
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