# Electric daisy, aka buzz button, aka toothache cress

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-daisy-aka-buzz-button-aka-toothache-cress/789619>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [June 22, 2017, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-daisy-aka-buzz-button-aka-toothache-cress/789619 "2017-06-22T18:18:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-daisy-aka-buzz-button-aka-toothache-cress/789619/1 "2017-06-22T18:18:07Z")

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I found this little plant (_Acmella oleracea_) in a tray of wilty herb seedlings at the supermarket. Never having heard of it, I thought I’d buy it as not, and stuck it in a pot. It’s growing beautifully, obviously appreciating the heat and my diligent watering. I read a bit about it, and was intrigued by the idea that eating the flower would have some strange effect on my mouth.

Well, today I nibbled on a leaf. (It has a few closed buds, but they’re quite small, and I’d read that the leaves are also edible, used in salads.) At first it was just vaguely vegetal, not unpleasant. Then, a few moments later, bang! I was grinning like a loon as suddenly my mouth felt cold, then fizzy, then watery. It was almost like the opposite of eating hot pepper. Different again than Sichuan peppercorn. The weirdness lasted about five minutes. I drank a bit of water, and tried a bite of pineapple, but it didn’t seem to change the taste, unlike miracle fruit.

Looking forward to trying a flower when they get bigger. Has anyone else tried this? It’s apparently a bit of a trend in hipster cocktails.

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**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-daisy-aka-buzz-button-aka-toothache-cress/789619/2 "2017-06-22T19:22:37Z")

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Is that the jamba in Jamba Juice?

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**Author:** ![plankter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ba0ec/32.png) [@plankter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plankter)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-daisy-aka-buzz-button-aka-toothache-cress/789619/3 "2017-06-22T22:50:15Z")

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Firstly, thank you for rescuing the poor little thing. 🙂

I saw this variety in the Strictly Medicinal Seeds catalog (they list it under “Spilanthes”) and was tempted but didn’t buy it, so I’m very interested in your experience with it. Please keep us updated.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-daisy-aka-buzz-button-aka-toothache-cress/789619/4 "2017-06-23T02:08:07Z")

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So I guess that’s where the title of that Lindsey Stirling album came from.

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**Author:** ![ThisIsTheEnd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisistheend/32/4713_2.png) [@ThisIsTheEnd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisIsTheEnd)\
**Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-daisy-aka-buzz-button-aka-toothache-cress/789619/5 "2017-06-23T19:43:06Z")

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The Chandelier Bar at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas serves these on top of a tequila-based cocktail they call The Verbena.