Close up of Nasturtium Tropaeolum Majus. Photo by Myriam Mahiques, 2021. Personal archives.
Long years ago, a friend of mine gave me some packages of Nasturtium seeds, of different colors.
Planting them gave me the joy of filling out my tiny garden with beautiful leaves and flowers. The plants spread very quickly, under the sun and the shadow. The cons, there were lots of snails reproducing under them.
I was curious about this plant -that resulted invasive for me-, and I've found out that the whole plant, including the flowers and seeds, are edible. The seeds are used to replace capers.
So I decided to prepare a salad for me, and it tasted pretty peppery, somehow similar to Watercress and Radish.
The snails began eating other plants, and finally I had to remove all the Nasturtiums. Now I like to take pictures of them at the local park, observe the bright color of the flowers in contrast with the light green of the leaves, which are a little translucent through the sunlight, and one is able to see all tones of greens in one single plant.
Reading on Wikipedia, I see that Nasturtium is a genus of Watercresses and there is a clarification:
"The genus Nasturtium should not be confused with the ornamental garden plant, usually grown as an annual, that is commonly known as nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus). Though not closely related, the leaves of the garden nasturtium also have a peppery taste."
Close up of Nasturtium Tropaeolum Majus. Photo by Myriam Mahiques, 2021. Personal archives.
A young lady resting in a "sea of Nasturtium". Here one can see how invasive the plant is.
Photo by Myriam Mahiques, 2021. Personal archives.
From Wikipedia:
"Tropaeolum majus, the garden nasturtium, nasturtium, Indian cress or monks cress, is a species of flowering plant in the family Tropaeolaceae, originating in the Andes from Bolivia north to Colombia. An easily-grown annual or short-lived perennial with disc-shaped leaves and brilliant yellow, orange or red flowers, it is of cultivated, probably hybrid origin. It is not closely related to the genus Nasturtium (which includes watercress)."
One of the most interesting aspects, at least for me that I like to take macro photos in nature, is the plant "Lotus effect", it means the leaves have a "waxy" condition that when water falls on the leaves, they clean themselves.
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