Cress

Cress, the popular name (from the Teutonic, kers, carse) applied to a variety of plants mostly members of the order Cruciferae (q.v.), with pungent, but wholesome, leaves. Lepidium sativum, seedlings of which are eaten as salad with those of mustard, and Nasturtium officinale, the watercress (q.v.). are especially so-called. The garden Nasturtiums (Tropaeolum - majus and T. minus), which are similarly pungent, though belonging to a widely different family, the Geraniaceae, were formerly known as Indian cress.