Smartweed...there's a reason it has this name!

Smartweed, it's so delicate and dainty looking, the flowers are so pretty and I really have no idea how those scrawny stems hold up those flowers!  This little weed goes by several names including knotweed, water pepper and arsesmart. There are several other plants that look like smartweed but there is no mistaking whether or not you have the right one when you take a taste of one of the leaves, I warn you, a SMALL taste is all it will take and all that I recommend. It has a very peppery taste and can burn your tongue if you aren't careful. 

Identifying this plant is relatively easy compared to other plants. It likes damp areas so that will tell you where to look first. It has long, skinny, oval shaped leaves that hang onto the stem by a sort of sheath. The flowers grow on long stems out of the leaf nodes and form clusters at the top of the flower stem which has no leaves on it, it's just a...stick, with a flower at the top.  The flowers come in white, pink and a pinkish white and are tiny little clusters of what I think of as "blobs".

The Native Americans used to use this plant in place of pepper because of it's spicy, peppery flavor, we can do the same. You would just use it the same way as you would black pepper except that you might want to test it out at first, it can be very spicy, you may not need as much smartweed as you would pepper.

So because it is peppery and used the same way as pepper, I don't really think I need to get into the culinary uses of it. I think you can pretty much figure that out on your own.

Smartweed is a stimulant, diuretic (encourages urination), emmenagogue ( this means that it stimulates blood to the pelvic area, it can stimulate menstruation and / or cause miscarriage, please do not take any emmenagogue herb during pregnancy), antiseptic, diaphoretic (this means it can make you sweat which can be helpful during fevers) and a vesicant ( it can cause blisters on the skin so be careful).

A couple of things to keep in mind when talking about smartweed. Heat will destroy the medicinal benefits as well as drying does too so the best way to use smartweed is to make a tincture of the fresh plant or use it sparingly in foods like soups and salads. I cannot stress enough that you should use this plant very sparingly and watch for skin reactions, some people have severe reactions to touching it.

Please make sure you have positively identified the plant before eating it. A tiny taste of one of the leaves will tell you if you have smartweed by it's peppery taste.

As always, enjoy eating your weedies!