Plant ID please

[BILLy]

Hi,
I think this is wild water cress but need to make sure, it is growing in boggy watery mud, it covers about the size of a footpath side and is growing to the side of a slowish running fresh water river that flows into a big lake.
Any more info on the plant and how to harvest it without having any unpack on its survival
Cheers
Bill

 

[Toddy]

If it is, you need to be very careful. There are snails which live on it which carry liver fluke

What you can do though, is pick a few end pieces, and make sure that it's well washed, and free from beasties. Take it home and grow it in a bucket in the Sunshine. You'll need to replace the water often so it doesn't go stagnant, the plant will live, but it's not exactly appetising harvesting from such; it'll grow quite happily, and eventually take over the garden ponds
Supposedly if you pick the tops, which haven't been in the water anyway, it ought to be fine, but liver fluke is not something to be chanced if it can be avoided, methinks.

Basically the liver fluke 'encapsulates' on leaves and when eaten it opens up in the gut. It doesn't survive cooking though, so watercress soup is popular

A link..

http://www.overthegardengate.net/garden/herbs/watercress.asp

http://www.scops.org.uk/endoparasites-liver-fluke.html

atb,
M