Cochlearia officinalis aka Scurvy Grass

Cochlearia officinalis L., commonly known as common scurvygrass, scurvy-grass, or spoonwort, is a small herbaceous member of the cabbage family (Brassicaceae) native to the cool, often saline coasts of northern and western Europe. Linnaeus described the species in 1753, and it remains the type species of the genus Cochlearia, whose name derives from a Greek word for "spoon" — a reference to the shape of the basal leaves.

The plant is biennial or short-lived perennial, growing 10–50 cm tall, with hairless stems and fleshy, somewhat succulent leaves. The basal rosette leaves are heart- or kidney-shaped on long stalks, while stem leaves are smaller and clasping. Fragrant four-petalled flowers, 8–15 mm across, appear from April or May through August in loose terminal racemes. Petals are usually white but may be tinged mauve or lilac. Spherical reddish-brown seeds ripen from July through September inside the small inflated siliques typical of the family. Flowers are visited by bees, flies and beetles, and the species is also self-fertile.

Common scurvygrass thrives in environments most other plants find hostile. Its native range includes Great Britain, Ireland, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, the Baltic states, Scandinavia, North European Russia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and France. It is naturalized further south and east, including in Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Czechia-Slovakia, Khabarovsk in eastern Russia, southern Argentina and the Falkland Islands. Typical habitats are saltmarshes, coastal cliffs, gravel beaches, rocky and muddy seashores, and grassy clifftops. It also colonises inland sites with naturally or artificially elevated salinity, including mountain seepages in the Alps and Scottish Highlands and, increasingly, road verges treated with de-icing salt — an unusual case of an inland range expansion driven by winter highway maintenance.

Culturally, the species is best known for its role in pre-citrus maritime medicine. The leaves are unusually rich in vitamin C, and the fresh herb, dried bundles, and a distilled extract were carried on long sea voyages and consumed by sailors to prevent or treat scurvy. Nicholas Culpeper recommended the juice as a spring tonic, and "scurvygrass ale" — leaves brewed with hops — was a popular health drink in Britain into the mid-19th century, when imported lemons and limes displaced it. Modern foragers occasionally add the sharp, pungent young leaves to salads, though Plants For A Future rates its edibility only 1 of 5, noting most palates find the flavour acrid. Its medicinal use today is largely historical (PFAF rating 2 of 5), and no significant non-medicinal industrial uses are documented. The plant is regarded as non-toxic, with no recorded hazards to humans, pets or livestock, and it is not flagged as invasive in any of the regions where it has naturalised.