Editing Cochlearia

{{short description|Genus of flowering plants}}
{{Italic title}}
{{redirect|Scurvy-grass|another plant with this name|Oxalis enneaphylla}}
{{For|the small Roman spoons| Cochlearium}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|name = Scurvy-grass
|image = Cochlearia excelsa.jpg
|image_caption = ''Cochlearia officinalis'' subsp. ''pyrenaica''
|taxon = Cochlearia
|authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
|subdivision_ranks = Species
|subdivision = About 25 species, see text
}}

'''''Cochlearia''''' ('''scurvy-grass''' or '''spoonwort''') is a [[genus]] of about 30 species of [[Annual plant|annual]] and [[perennial plant|perennial]] [[herb]]s in the family [[Brassicaceae]]. They are widely distributed in [[temperate]] and [[arctic]] areas of the [[Northern Hemisphere|northern hemisphere]], most commonly found in [[coast]]al regions, on [[cliff]]-tops and [[salt marsh]]es where their high tolerance of [[sodium chloride|salt]] enables them to avoid competition from larger, but less salt-tolerant plants; they also occur in [[Alpine climate|alpine]] habitats in [[mountain]]s and [[tundra]].

They form low, rounded or creeping plants, typically 5–20&nbsp;cm tall. The leaves are smoothly rounded, roughly [[spoon]]-shaped (the scientific name ''Cochlearia'' derives from the [[Latin]]ized form, ''cocleare'', of the [[Greek language|Greek]] κοχλιάριον, ''kokhliárion'', a spoon; this a diminutive of κόχλος, ''kókhlos'', seashell), or in some species, lobed; typically 1–5&nbsp;cm long, and with a fleshy texture. The [[flower]]s are white with four petals and are borne in short [[raceme]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scurvy grass • Cochleria officinalis |url=https://www.centralcoastbiodiversity.org/scurvy-grass-bullnbspcochleria-officinalis.html |access-date=2023-12-24 |website=Biodiversity of the Central Coast |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Cochlearia officinalis Scurvy Grass, Spoonwort PFAF Plant Database |url=https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Cochlearia+officinalis |access-date=2023-12-24 |website=pfaf.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Scurvy-grass - Gardenology.org - Plant Encyclopedia and Gardening wiki |url=https://www.gardenology.org/wiki/Scurvy-grass |access-date=2023-12-24 |website=www.gardenology.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Cochlearia officinalis (Scurvy Grass) - Practical Plants |url=https://practicalplants.org/wiki/cochlearia_officinalis/ |access-date=2023-12-24 |website=practicalplants.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mullie |first1=Patrick |last2=Deliens |first2=Tom |last3=Clarys |first3=Peter |title=Vitamin C in East-Greenland traditional nutrition: a reanalysis of the Høygaard nutritional data (1936-1937) |journal=International Journal of Circumpolar Health |date=2021 |volume=80 |issue=1 |pages=1951471 |doi=10.1080/22423982.2021.1951471 |issn=1239-9736 |pmc=8266228 |pmid=34232845}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Sessileleaf Scurvygrass – Flowering Plant Species of Alaska – Alaska Handbook |language=en-US |work=Alaska Handbook |url=https://www.alaskahandbook.com/nature/sessileleaf-scurvygrass/ |access-date=2023-12-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Scurvy grass (Cochlearia officinalis) |url=https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/55838-Cochlearia-officinalis |access-date=2023-12-24 |website=iNaturalist |language=en}}</ref>

==Selected species==
About 30 species are usually accepted; several others usually treated as subspecies of ''C. officinalis'' are accepted as distinct species by some botanists.

*''[[Cochlearia acutangula]]''
*''[[Cochlearia aestuaria]]'' – Estuarine scurvy-grass
*''[[Cochlearia alatipes]]''
*''[[Cochlearia anglica]]'' – English scurvy-grass
*''[[Cochlearia aragonensis]]''
*''[[Cochlearia changhuaensis]]''
*''[[Cochlearia cyclocarpa]]'' – Roundfruit scurvy-grass
*''[[Cochlearia danica]]'' – Early or Danish scurvy-grass
*''[[Cochlearia fenestrata]]'' – Arctic scurvy-grass
*''[[Cochlearia formosana]]''
*''[[Cochlearia excelsa]]''
*''[[Cochlearia fumarioides]]''
*''[[Cochlearia furcatopilosa]]''
*''[[Cochlearia glastifolia]]''
*''[[Cochlearia groenlandica]]'' – Greenland scurvy-grass
*''[[Cochlearia henryi]]''
*''[[Cochlearia hui]]''
*''[[Cochlearia lichuanensis]]''
*''[[Cochlearia longistyla]]''
*''[[Cochlearia megalosperma]]''
*''[[Cochlearia microcarpa]]''
*''[[Cochlearia oblongifolia]]'' – East Asian scurvy-grass
*''[[Cochlearia officinalis]]'' – Common scurvy-grass (including ''C. excelsa'', ''C. pyrenaica'', ''C. scotica'')<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Cochlearia+officinalis|title=Cochlearia officinalis Scurvy Grass, Spoonwort PFAF Plant Database|work=pfaf.org|access-date=14 September 2015}}</ref>
*''[[Cochlearia paradoxa]]''
*''[[Cochlearia rivulorum]]''
*''[[Cochlearia rupicola]]''
*''[[Cochlearia sessilifolia]]'' – Sessile-leaved or Alaskan scurvy-grass
*''[[Cochlearia sinuata]]''
*''[[Cochlearia tatrae]]''
*''[[Cochlearia tridactylites]]'' – Three-fingered scurvy-grass
*''[[Cochlearia warburgii]]''

Two species formerly included in the genus ''Cochlearia'' are now usually treated in separate genera:
* [[Horseradish]] ''Armoracia rusticana'' (previously ''Cochlearia armoracia'')
* [[Wasabi]] ''Wasabia japonica'' (previously ''Cochlearia wasabi'')

Cook's scurvy grass, ''[[Lepidium oleraceum]]'', was used by [[James Cook]] to prevent [[scurvy]], but is now almost extinct.

==History and uses==
Scurvy-grass is edible raw and cooked, with a flavour similar to [[Garden cress|cress]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Angier|first=Bradford|url=https://archive.org/details/fieldguidetoedib00angi/page/198/mode/2up|title=Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants|publisher=Stackpole Books|year=1974|isbn=0-8117-0616-8|location=Harrisburg, PA|pages=198|oclc=799792|author-link=Bradford Angier}}</ref> The leaves are rich in [[vitamin C]],<ref name="Packer">{{cite book|last1=Packer|first1=Lester|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4nODCOzu2n8C&pg=PA11|title=Vitamin C in health and disease|last2=Fuchs|first2=Jürgen|date=1997|publisher=M. Dekker|isbn=978-0824793135|location=New York|pages=11–17|access-date=13 May 2018}}</ref><ref name="Brickley">{{cite book|last1=Brickley|first1=Megan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2p10iGMV5R4C&pg=PA41|title=The Bioarchaeology of Metabolic Bone Disease.|last2=Ives|first2=Rachel|date=2008|publisher=Elsevier|isbn=9780080557915|location=Burlington|pages=41–44|access-date=13 May 2018}}</ref> which cures scurvy, a [[deficiency disease]] resulting from a lack of fresh [[vegetable]]s in the diet.<ref name="Distillations">{{cite journal|last1=Price|first1=Catherine|date=2017|title=The Age of Scurvy|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/magazine/the-age-of-scurvy|journal=Distillations|volume=3|issue=2|pages=12–23|access-date=May 13, 2018}}</ref>
The plant was frequently eaten in the past by [[sailor]]s suffering from scurvy after returning from long voyages.<ref>{{cite news|date=22 November 2006|title=Discover the Heritage of the Tees|work=Gazette Live|url=http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/discover-heritage-tees-3760503|access-date=21 June 2017}}</ref><ref name="Blencowe" />
The first-century writer [[Pliny the Elder]] (A.D. 23–79) writes in his ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Naturalis Historia]]'' (''Natural History'') about a disease suffered by Roman soldiers in Germany. Their symptoms resemble those of scurvy, and Pliny recommends a ''Herba britannica'', which has been suggested to be scurvy-grass.<ref name="Klenner">{{cite book|last1=Klenner|first1=F.|last2=Stone|first2=Irwin|last3=Cathcart|first3=Robert|title=80 Years of High-Dose-Vitamin C Research|date=2018|publisher=Books on Demand|isbn=978-3-7528-1275-6|page=359|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UYBTDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA359|access-date=13 May 2018}}</ref><ref name="Brickley"/>

The Rev. George Moore recorded the purchase of "a pint of scurvey-grasse" for 1 ''s'' in 1662. He apparently "suffered much" from scurvy, purchasing scurvey-grasse in both bundled and bottled form.<ref name="Blencowe" />
The book ''Cochlearia curiosa: or the curiosities of scurvygrass'' was published in English in 1676,<ref name="Moellenbrock">{{cite book|last1=Moellenbrock|first1=Valentin Andreas|last2=Sherley|first2=Thomas |title=Cochlearia curiosa: or The curiosities of scurvygrass. Being an exact scrutiny and careful description of the nature and medicinal vertue of scurvygrass. In which is exhibited to publick use the most and best preparations of medicines, both Galenical and chymical; either for internal or external use, in which that plant, or any part thereof is imployed. Written in Latine by Dr. Andreas Valentinus Molimbrochius of Lipswick. Englished by Tho. Sherley, M.D. and physitian in ordinary to His present Majesty.
|date=1675|publisher=Printed by S. and B. Griffin for William Cademan|location=London|url=http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A51111.0001.001|access-date=2 November 2018}}</ref>
Described as "both a learned and accurate work", it was well received,<ref name="Kenny">{{cite book|last1=Kenny|first1=Neil|title=The uses of curiosity in early modern France and Germany|date=2004|publisher=Oxford Univ. Press|location=Oxford [u.a.]|isbn=9780199271368|page=190|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CtOEk_kVO50C&pg=PA190|access-date=13 May 2018}}</ref>
and apparently brought scurvy-grass "into great repute" as a remedy.<ref name="Blencowe">{{cite journal |last1=Blencowe|first1=Robert Willis|journal=Sussex Archaeological Collections|date=1848|publisher=Sussex Archaeological Society; John Russell Smith|location=London|title=Extracts from the Journal and Account Book of the Rev. Giles Moore|page=87|volume=1|doi=10.5284/1086837 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
According to the [[Royal Society]], the book contains "not only a description of the several kinds of this plant, with its several names, place, and time of growth, temperature and general vertues, but also an enumeration of the uses, medicinal vertues and manner of applying each part of this plant."<ref name="Accompt">{{cite journal|title=An Accompt of Some Books|journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London|date=1 January 1676|volume=11|issue=123–132|page=621|doi=10.1098/rstl.1676.0015|url=http://rstl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/11/125/611.full.pdf+html|access-date=13 May 2018|doi-access=free}}</ref>
In 1857, ''Cochlearia officinalis'' was described in ''The Elements of Materia Medica and Therapeutics'' as "A gentle stimulant, aperient, and diuretic. It has long been esteemed as an antiscorbutic. It has also been used in visceral obstructions. It is occasionally eaten with bread and butter, like the water-cress."<ref name="Pereira">{{cite book|last1=Pereira|first1=Jonathan|last2=Kilmer|first2=Fred B.|title=The Elements of Materia Medica and Therapeutics|date=1857|publisher=Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans|isbn=9781278610887|page=579|volume= 2|issue=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CtQ8AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA579|access-date=13 May 2018}}</ref>

The leaves, which have a strong acrid, bitter, or peppery taste similar to the related [[horseradish]] and [[watercress]], are also sometimes used in [[salad]]s or eaten with bread and butter.<ref name="Pereira"/>

[[Scurvy-grass sorrel]] (''Oxalis enneaphylla'') is an unrelated plant from southern [[South America]] and the [[Falkland Islands]] that was also used to treat scurvy.

==Scurvy-grass and roads==
The advent of modern fast [[road]]s treated with salt in winter for [[ice]] clearance has resulted in the colonisation by scurvy-grass of many inland areas where it formerly did not occur. The scurvy-grass [[seed]]s become trapped on [[automobile|car]] [[wheel]]s, transported often for a considerable distance, and then washed off, to grow in the salt-rich soil at the side of the road where other plants cannot survive.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wbrc.org.uk/WorcRecd/Issue12/useold.htm|title=The Use of Old Records - Some Worked Examples|work=wbrc.org.uk|access-date=14 September 2015}}</ref>

<gallery>
Image:scurvygras.jpg|''Cochlearia officinalis'' on [[Bear Island (Norway)|Bear Island]], [[Norway]]
Image:Cochlearia_officinalis_-_Köhler–s_Medizinal-Pflanzen-186.jpg|19th century illustration of ''Cochlearia officinalis'' 
File:B1041668 007 Scurvy-grass.tif | "Scurvy-grass" from ''The Book of Health'', 1898, by Henry Munson Lyman
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Cochlearia&SPECIES_XREF=&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK=species Flora Europaea: ''Cochlearia'']
*[http://www.efloras.org/browse.aspx?flora_id=3&start_taxon_id=107484 Flora of China: ''Cochlearia'' species list]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q162611}}

[[Category:Cochlearia| ]]
[[Category:Brassicaceae genera]]
[[Category:Leaf vegetables]]