Nasturtium
(an old Latin name used by Pliny, and by him derived from nasus, the nose, and tortus, twisted; referring to the contortions of the nose caused by the hot, acrid taste of the plants). ORD. Cruciferae. A confused genus (some eighty species have been described by various authors, but probably not more than a score members of the genus are sufficiently distinct to merit specific rank) of hardy branched, glabrous or hairy herbs, of various habit, terrestrial or aquatic; they inhabit the temperate and warmer regions of the Northern hemisphere. Flowers often yellow, small, sometimes bracteate. Pod short or elongated. Leaves entire or variously-lobed, or pinnatisect. The only species that calls for mention here is N. officinale, for culture of which see Cress, Water. The generic name, Nasturtium, is frequently applied to the common forms of Tropaeolum.
N. officinale (officinal). Water Cress. fl. white, small, in short racemes. June. Pods 1/2in. long. l. pinnate; leaflets three to eleven, roundish or oblong, nearly entire. Stem much branched, sometimes short and creeping, or floating in shallow water, sometimes scrambling on banks or bushes to the length of 2ft. or more. West Asia and Europe (Britain, in brooks and ditches); introduced into North America and the Colonies, and choking some of the New Zealand rivers. Hardy perennial.