Cress

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Cress, common name for a number of herbs, most of which are used as garnishings or in salads for their pungent flavor and high vitamin C content. One of the most common cresses is watercress, a perennial that grows in brooks and springs or in wet ground. Garden cress, also called peppergrass, is an Asian annual sometimes cultivated in the United States. A similar native species is wild peppergrass, a common weed. The various species known as bitter cress include the cuckooflower, found in bogs and other wet areas in the northern United States. Indian cress is known as nasturtium, although it is not related to the garden nasturtium.

Scientific classification: Cresses belong to the family Brassicaceae (formerly Cruciferae). Watercress is classified as Nasturtium officinale, garden cress as Lepidium sativum, wild peppergrass as Lepidium virginicum, and the cuckooflower as Cardamine pratensis.

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