Ashkenazi Herbalism by Deatra Cohen & Adam Siegel

Author:Deatra Cohen & Adam Siegel [Cohen, Deatra & Siegel, Adam]
Language: eng
Format: epub

Lepidium ruderale contemporary medicinal parts: whole plant

Lepidium ruderale in contemporary herbalism: In twentieth-century Britain Lepidium sativum, when picked while its flavor was not yet strong, contributed “piquancy to salads, garnishes and sauces” as a cut herb. And while the plant has been recognized for containing a natural antibiotic, it has not been in use medicinally.270

In contemporary American herbalism the closest documented usage of the Lepidium species is maca, Lepidium meyenii. Sometimes known as Peruvian ginseng, maca is an edible herbaceous biennial of the Brassicaceae family, closely related to L. sativum and L. campestre. Maca is native to Peru and has been harvested and used by humans in the puna grasslands of the Andes for centuries as both food and medicine. In the United States contemporary herbalists find the powdered root to be warming and nourishing and a rejuvenating tonic for reproductive health in both men and women. While it has adaptogenic properties, practitioners warn of the plant’s ability to mildly inhibit thyroid function if there is a concurrent iodine deficiency.271

In the Far East “Semen Lepidii seu Descurainiae,” or the dried seeds of Lepidium apetalum, have been studied for their anti-inflammatory properties in lung disease as recently as 2019.272 But this age-old TCM remedy has long been in use as an expectorant, diuretic, anti-inflammatory, sedative, and bronchitis reliever.273 Colloquially known as pepperweed, the plant is grown in most parts of China, where it is collected in the summer and used unprepared or lightly fried. The seed is broken into pieces before it is prepared as medicine. It has a bitter and pungent flavor and is known to have a very cold property, which assists in its application for removing lung heat and resolving phlegm.274

Lepidium ruderale in European herbalism in the early twentieth century: In the 1930s, the writer and botanist Edith Grey Wheelwright mentioned that while several of the Lepidia or pepperworts were found in the flora of the British Isles, they were not considered indigenous there. Wheelwright characterized the herb as an “insignificant wilding,” which gives an indication as to its stature at that time in Britain.275 Maude Grieve’s A Modern Herbal doesn’t even mention the genus Lepidium whatsoever in her two-volume compendium.

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