Capsella bursa-pastoris

Last updated

Shepherd's purse
A Field of Shepherd's-purse.jpg
Flowering and fruiting
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Brassicales
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Capsella
Species:
C. bursa-pastoris
Binomial name
Capsella bursa-pastoris
Subspecies [1]
  • C. bursa-pastoris subsp. bursa-pastoris
  • C. bursa-pastoris subsp. thracicus (Velen.) Stoj. & Stef.
Synonyms [1]
List
    • Bursa bursa-pastoris (L.) Shafer
    • Nasturtium bursa-pastoris (L.) Roth
    • Rodschiedia bursa-pastoris (L.) G.Gaertn., B.Mey. & Scherb.
    • Thlaspi bursa-pastoris L.
    • Thlaspi bursa-pastoris subsp. pinnatifolia Ehrh.

Capsella bursa-pastoris, known as shepherd's purse because of its triangular flat fruits, which are purse-like, is a small annual and ruderal flowering plant in the mustard family (Brassicaceae). [2]

Contents

Scientists have referred to this species as a protocarnivore, since it has been found that its seeds attract and kill nematodes as a means to locally enrich the soil.

It is native to Eurasia but is naturalized and considered a common weed in many parts of the world, especially in colder climates. It has a number of culinary uses.

Description

Rosette (a), pointed leaves, flowers (c-e), pods (i, k) Capsella bursa-pastoris Sturm23.jpg
Rosette (a), pointed leaves, flowers (c–e), pods (i, k)

Capsella bursa-pastoris plants grow from a rosette of lobed leaves at the base. From the base emerges a stem most often 10–50 cm (4–20 in) tall, but occasionally as much as 70 cm (28 in) or as little as 2 cm (3⁄4 in), which bears a few pointed leaves which partly grasp the stem. [3] The flowers, which appear in any month of the year in the British Isles, [4] are white and small, 2.5 mm (1⁄8 in) in diameter, with four petals and six stamens. [4] They are borne in loose racemes, and produce flattened, two-chambered seed pods known as silicles, which are triangular to heart-shaped, each containing several seeds. [5]

Like a number of other plants in several plant families, its seeds contain a substance known as mucilage, a condition known as myxospermy. [6] Recently, this has been demonstrated experimentally to perform the function of trapping nematodes, as a form of 'protocarnivory'. [7] [8] [9]

Capsella bursa-pastoris is closely related to the model organism Arabidopsis thaliana and is also used as a model organism, because the variety of genes expressed throughout its life cycle can be compared to genes that have been well studied in A. thaliana. Unlike most flowering plants, it flowers almost all year round. [5] [10] Like other annual ruderals exploiting disturbed ground, C. bursa-pastoris reproduces entirely from seed, has a long soil seed bank, [11] and short generation time, [12] and is capable of producing several generations each year.

Chemistry

Fumaric acid has been isolated from C. bursa-pastoris. [13]

Taxonomy

Capsella bursa-pastoris is classified in the Capsella genus of plants in the family Brassicaceae. It has two subspecies, bursa-pastoris and thracicus. [1]

History

In China, where it is known as jìcài (荠菜; [14] 薺菜), the term first appears in the song and poetry collection Shijing (c. 1000 – 600 BCE). [15] However, these early mentions may not be refereing to Shepherd's purse, but to other plants. While today ji clearly indicates this species, previously it was used for all plants with leaves consumed in soups. [16]

A very early European illustration of Capsella bursa-pastoris was published in a medieval Herbarius in aproximatly 1486. The book was printed in Louvain in what is now Belgium. The species was apparently not included in the ancient pharmacopoeia with William Turner stating in 1548 that it and twenty or thirty others had come to be known as medicinal plants from Arab sources. [17]

It was formally described by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in his seminal publication Species Plantarum in 1753, and then published by Friedrich Kasimir Medikus in Pflanzen-Gattungen (Pfl.-Gatt.) in 1792. [18] [19]

Names

William Coles wrote in his book, Adam in Eden (1657), "It is called Shepherd's purse or Scrip (wallet) from the likeness of the seed hath with that kind of leathearne bag, wherein Shepherds carry their Victualls [food and drink] into the field." [20]

In England and Scotland, it was once commonly called 'mother's heart', from which was derived a child's game/trick of picking the seed pod, which then would burst and the child would be accused of 'breaking his mother's heart'. [20]

Distribution and habitat

It is native to eastern Europe and Asia minor, [12] but is naturalized and considered a common weed in many parts of the world, especially in colder climates, [21] including the British Isles, [22] where it is regarded as an archaeophyte, [11] [23] North America [24] [5] and China, [10] but also in the Mediterranean and North Africa. [12] C. bursa-pastoris is the second-most prolific wild plant in the world, [10] and is common on cultivated ground and waysides and meadows. [4]

Ecology

Pathogens of this plant include:[ citation needed ]

Uses

Capsella bursa-pastoris gathered from the wild or cultivated [26] [27] has many uses, including for food, [10] [27] to supplement animal feed, [26] for cosmetics, [26] and in traditional medicine [10] [26] —reportedly to stop bleeding. [28] The plant can be eaten raw; [29] the leaves are best when gathered young. [30] Native Americans ground it into a meal and made a beverage from it. [28]

Cooking

It is cultivated as a commercial food crop in Asia. [31] In China, where it is known as jìcài (荠菜; 薺菜) its use as food has been recorded since the Zhou Dynasty. Historically, it was used to make geng soup, congee, and preserved as yāncài (醃菜 ). In the Ming-dynasty famine survival guide Jiuhuang bencao, it was recommended to mix jìcài with water and other ingredients to make bread-like bing. [32] Today, it is commonly used in food in Shanghai and the surrounding Jiangnan region. The savory leaf is stir-fried with nian gao rice cakes and other ingredients or as part of the filling in wontons. [33] It is one of the ingredients of the symbolic dish consumed in the Japanese spring-time festival, Nanakusa-no-sekku . In Korea, it is known as naengi (냉이) and used as a root vegetable in the characteristic Korean dish, namul (fresh greens and wild vegetables). [34]

Culture

In a poem in the Shijing, the taste of the jìcài was compared to a happy marriage. [35] Its sweet taste is also recorded in the Erya lexicon, compiled c. 500 – 100 BCE). [36]

Related Research Articles

<i>Brassica</i> Genus of flowering plants in the cabbage family Brassicaceae

Brassica is a genus of plants in the cabbage and mustard family (Brassicaceae). The members of the genus are informally known as cruciferous vegetables, cabbages, mustard plants, or simply brassicas. Crops from this genus are sometimes called cole crops—derived from the Latin caulis, denoting the stem or stalk of a plant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weed of cultivation</span> Weed adapted to cultivated land

A weed of cultivation is any plant that is well-adapted to environments in which land is cultivated for growing some other plant.

<i>Capsella</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants in the mustard family

Capsella is a genus of herbaceous annual and biennial plants in the family Brassicaceae. It is a close relative of Arabidopsis, Neslia, and Halimolobos.

<i>Barbarea verna</i> Species of plant in the family Brassicaceae

Barbarea verna is a biennial herb in the family Brassicaceae. Common names include land cress, American cress, bank cress, black wood cress, Belle Isle cress, Bermuda cress, poor man's cabbage, early yellowrocket, early wintercress, scurvy cress, creasy greens, and upland cress. It is native to southern Europe and western Asia, and naturalized elsewhere It has been cultivated as a leaf vegetable in England since the 17th century. As it requires less water than watercress, it is easier to cultivate.

<i>Lapsana communis</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae

Lapsana communis, the common nipplewort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to Europe and southwestern Asia, and it is widely naturalized in other regions including North America.

Chinese spinach can mean any of several plants grown as leaf vegetables in China :

<i>Raphanus raphanistrum</i> Species of flowering plant

Raphanus raphanistrum, also known as wild radish, white charlock or jointed charlock, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. The species is native to western Asia, Europe and parts of Northern Africa. It has been introduced into most parts of the world and is regarded as a habitat threatening invasive species in many areas, for example, Australia. It spreads rapidly and is often found growing on roadsides or in other places where the ground has been disturbed. The cultivated radish, widely used as a root vegetable, is sometimes considered to be one of its subspecies as Raphanus raphanistrum subsp. sativus.

<i>Cardamine pratensis</i> Species of flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae

Cardamine pratensis, the cuckoo flower, lady's smock, mayflower, or milkmaids, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. It is a perennial herb native to Eurasia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silique</span> Type of seed capsule, with the length more than three times the width

A silique or siliqua is a type of fruit having two fused carpels with the length being more than three times the width. When the length is less than three times the width of the dried fruit it is referred to as a silicle. The outer walls of the ovary usually separate when ripe, then being named dehiscent, and leaving a persistent partition. Siliques are present in many members of the mustard family, Brassicaceae, but some species have silicles instead. Some species closely related to plants with true siliques have fruits with a similar structure that do not open when ripe; these are usually called indehiscent siliques.

<i>Cardamine hirsuta</i> Species of flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae

Cardamine hirsuta, commonly called hairy bittercress, is an annual or biennial species of plant in the family Brassicaceae, and is edible as a salad green. It is common in moist areas around the world.

<i>Lactuca serriola</i> Species of flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae

Lactuca serriola, also called prickly lettuce, milk thistle, compass plant, and scarole, is an annual or biennial plant in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae. It has a slightly fetid odor and is commonly considered a weed of orchards, roadsides and field crops. It is the closest wild relative of cultivated lettuce.

<i>Hyaloperonospora brassicae</i> Species of single-celled organism

Hyaloperonospora brassicae, in the family Peronosporaceae, is a plant pathogen. It causes downy mildew of species of Brassica, Raphanus, Sinapis and probably other genera within the Brassicaceae. In the past, the cause of downy mildew in any plant in the family Brassicaceae was considered to be a single species Peronospora parasitica. However, this has recently been shown to be a complex of species with narrower host ranges, now classified in the genus Hyaloperonospora, for example Hyaloperonospora parasitica on the weed Capsella bursa-pastoris. From the perspective of plant pathology, Hyaloperonospora brassicae is now the name of the most important pathogen in this complex, attacking the major agricultural and horticultural Brassica species. Other significant Brassicaceous hosts are attacked by different species in the complex, e.g. horseradish by Hyaloperonospora cochleariae, wallflower by Hyaloperonospora cheiranthi.

<i>Diplotaxis tenuifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Diplotaxis tenuifolia is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common name perennial wall-rocket. It is native to Europe and western Asia, where it grows on disturbed ground and roadsides, and it can now be found throughout much of the temperate world where it has naturalized. In recent years it has increasingly been cultivated to produce salad leaves, which are marketed as wild rocket in Britain or arugula in the US. It is easily confused with garden rocket, which has similar uses.

<i>Lepidium didymum</i> Species of flowering plant

Lepidium didymum, the lesser swine-cress, is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae.

British NVC community OV13 is one of the open habitat communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of eight arable weed and wasteland communities of fertile loams and clays.

British NVC community OV14 is one of the open habitat communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of eight arable weed and wasteland communities of fertile loams and clays.

British NVC community OV18 is one of the open habitat communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of six communities characteristic of gateways, tracksides and courtyards.

British NVC community OV19 is one of the open habitat communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of six communities characteristic of gateways, tracksides and courtyards.

<i>Capsella rubella</i> Species of flowering plant

Capsella rubella, the pink shepherd's-purse, is a plant species in the genus Capsella, a very close relative of Arabidopsis thaliana and a member of the mustard family, Brassicaceae. It has a very similar appearance to Capsella bursa-pastoris, but C. rubella has a diploid genome, whereas C. bursa-pastoris is tetraploid. Capsella rubella is used as a model plant to study the evolution of self-incompatibility into self-compatibility in plant reproduction. The species is found mostly in Mediterranean region. Separation of this species from its closest ancestor is predicted to have happened around 30,000 to 50,000 years ago.

Capsella grandiflora is a species of flowering plant in the Brassicaceae family. It is referred to by the common name grand shepherd's-purse and is a close relative of Arabidopsis thaliana. It is predicted together with Capsella orientalis to be the surviving progenitor of Capsella bursa-pastoris.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  2. ↑ Parnell, J.; Curtis, T. (2012). Webb's An Irish Flora. Cork University Press. p. 262. ISBN   978-185918-4783.
  3. ↑ Al-Shehbaz, Ihsan A. (5 November 2020). "Capsella bursa-pastoris - FNA". Flora of North America. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 Clapham, A.R.; Tutin, T.G.; Warburg, E.F. (1981). Excursion Flora of the British Isles (Third ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 56. ISBN   978-0521232906.
  5. 1 2 3 Blanchan, Neltje (2005). Wild Flowers Worth Knowing. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.
  6. ↑ Tamara L. Western; Debra J. Skinner; George W. Haughn (February 2000). "Differentiation of Mucilage Secretory Cells of the Arabidopsis Seed Coat". Plant Physiology. 122 (2): 345–355. doi:10.1104/pp.122.2.345. PMC   58872 . PMID   10677428.
  7. ↑ Nature - Evidence for Facultative Protocarnivory in Capsella bursa-pastoris seeds
  8. ↑ Telegraph - Tomatoes Can Eat Insects
  9. ↑ Barber, J.T. (1978). "Capsella bursa-pastoris seeds: Are they "carnivorous"?" (PDF). Carnivorous Plant Newsletter . 7 (2): 39–42. doi:10.55360/cpn072.jb538.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 "Capsella bursa-pastoris". Flora of China.
  11. 1 2 Preston, CD; Pearman, DA; Dines, TD (2002). New Atlas of the British & Irish Flora. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0198510673.
  12. 1 2 3 Aksoy, A; Dixon, JM; Hale, WH (1998). "Biological flora of the British Isles. Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medikus (Thlaspi bursapastoris L., Bursa bursa-pastoris (L.) Shull, Bursa pastoris (L.) Weber)". Journal of Ecology. 86: 171–186. arXiv: 1303.1393 . doi:10.1046/j.1365-2745.1998.00260.x. S2CID   84689066.
  13. ↑ Kuroda, K.; Akao, M.; Kanisawa, M.; Miyaki, K. (1976). "Inhibitory effect of Capsella bursa-pastoris extract on growth of Ehrlich solid tumor in mice". Cancer Research. 36 (6): 1900–1903. PMID   1268843.
  14. ↑ Larkcom, Joy (1991). Oriental Vegetables : The Complete Guide for Garden and Kitchen. Tokyo ; New York: Kodansha International. p. 214. ISBN   978-4-7700-1619-5 . Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  15. ↑ Waley, Arthur; Allen, Joseph Roe (1996). The book of songs. New York: Grove Press. pp. xv, 31. ISBN   978-0-8021-3477-6.
  16. ↑ Needham, Joseph; Métailié, Georges (2015). Science and Civilisation in China . Vol. 6 Biology and Biological Technology Part IV: Traditional Botany: An Ethnobotanical Approach. Translated by Lloyd, Janet. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 15. ISBN   978-1-107-10987-2 . Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  17. ↑ Morton, A.G. (1981). History of Botanical Science'. Academic Press. pp. 96–97, 118, 150. ISBN   0125083823.
  18. ↑ "Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik. is an accepted name". theplantlist.org. 23 March 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  19. ↑ "Brassicaceae Capsella bursa-pastoris Medik". ipni.org. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  20. 1 2 Reader's Digest Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of Britain. Reader's Digest. 1981. p. 54. ISBN   9780276002175.
  21. ↑ "Capsella bursa-pastoris". Flora of Pakistan.
  22. ↑ Clapham, A.R., Tutin, T.G. and Warburg, E.F. 1968. Excursion Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   0-521-04656-4
  23. ↑ Preston, CD; Pearman, DA; Hall, AR (2004). "Archaeophytes in Britain". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 145 (3): 257–294. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8339.2004.00284.x .
  24. ↑ "Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik". USDA Plants Database.
  25. ↑ Helgi Hallgrímsson & Guðríður Gyða Eyjólfsdóttir (2004). Íslenskt sveppatal I - smásveppir [Checklist of Icelandic Fungi I - Microfungi. Fjölrit Náttúrufræðistofnunar. Náttúrufræðistofnun Íslands [Icelandic Institute of Natural History]. ISSN 1027-832X
  26. 1 2 3 4 "Capsella bursa-pastoris (Ecocrop code 4164)". ecocrop. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  27. 1 2 "Capsella bursa-pastoris - (L.)Medik". Plants For A Future database report.
  28. 1 2 Nyerges, Christopher (2017). Foraging Washington: Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Edible Wild Foods. Guilford, CT: Falcon Guides. ISBN   978-1-4930-2534-3. OCLC   965922681.
  29. ↑ Nyerges, Christopher (2016). Foraging Wild Edible Plants of North America: More than 150 Delicious Recipes Using Nature's Edibles. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 164. ISBN   978-1-4930-1499-6.
  30. ↑ Benoliel, Doug (2011). Northwest Foraging: The Classic Guide to Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest (Rev. and updated ed.). Seattle, WA: Skipstone. p. 139. ISBN   978-1-59485-366-1. OCLC   668195076.
  31. ↑ Mills, David (March 11, 2014). Nature's Restaurant: Fields, Forests & Wetlands Foods of Eastern North America - A Complete Wild Food Guide.
  32. ↑ Li, Shizhen (1596). "Bencaogangmu". Cai Part Two
  33. ↑ Samuels, Debra (12 May 2015). "This Chinese grandma forages and cooks". bostonglobe.com. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  34. ↑ Pratt Keith L.; Richard Rutt; James Hoare (1999). Korea: a historical and cultural dictionary. Richmond, Surrey.: Curzon Press. p. 310. ISBN   978-0-7007-0464-4.
  35. ↑ Legge, James; Zuoqiu, Ming Zuo zhuan (1893). The Chinese classics. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 56. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  36. ↑ "Erya – Ji". Chinese Text Project. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
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