Leaves

Rosette leaves are pinnately divided into 8-15 leaflets with short stems connecting them to the petiole, up to 15 cm long. The leaflets are round to ovate and may have smooth or dentate edges. The upper surfaces of the leaves are slightly hairy.

Flowers

Small white flowers are on a bractless raceme. The flowers have 4 white petals which are 1-5 mm long and spatulate. Each flower has 4 stamens of equal height instead. Below each flower there are 4 tiny sepals which are oblong shaped and 1-3 mm long and less than 1 mm wide.

Seeds

The seeds are in upright pointing siliquae which are straight and 1-3 cm long and 1 mm in diameter. When the fruit is ripe the siliquae coil tightly from the bottom to the top and after being touched (by animals, rain, insects) they burst explosively, sending the seeds flying far from the plant.

Stem

Fruit

Taste

Tastes mildly mustard-like and almost exactly the same as cress.

Frequency & law

Very common and not restricted.

The nuanced bit

This little invasive “weed” has a somewhat misleading name. Being neither particularly bitter, nor especially hairy on the tongue, hairy bittercress is in fact a very tasty wild edible, having a very similar taste to shop-bought or home grown cress.

Possible confusion

Wavy bittercress (Cardamine flexuosa) is very similar, but doesn’t have the tiny hairs of C. hirsuta. The seed pods of C. hirsuta tend to grow higher than the flowers, whereas the seed pods of C. flexuosa do not. Wavy bittercress is also edible.

Habitat

Commonly found in damp, recently disturbed soil, open ground, turf and waste ground and native to Europe and most of the northern hemisphere.

How to harvest

The leaves are generally present through the winter, but really burst through from the start of spring. Flowers from April to August and seeds from May to September. It’s an annual, so make sure not to take it all, or there will be none next year.

Cooking tips

This is a great raw ingredient for salads, etc.

Other uses

Folklore