# What is this plant called?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-plant-called/823986>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [November 5, 2018, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-plant-called/823986 "2018-11-05T01:20:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-plant-called/823986/1 "2018-11-05T01:20:12Z")

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[This plant…](https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2223164297707318&set=a.1116896588334100&type=3)

Did you have a name for it growing up? Are you / were you aware of its spicy peppery taste (the little green “paddles”)? Is it used in any cuisines?

I remember it from childhood in Georgia. We’d pick them, then pull off the little round green things and pop them in our mouth. Hot and spicy. Not quite like black peppercorns… they had their own taste.

Rediscovering them here on Long Island. Same plant. Wondering if they’ve ever been designated as a spice and harvested as such.

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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:** [November 5, 2018, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-plant-called/823986/2 "2018-11-05T03:03:04Z")

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The description makes it sound like Shepherd’s purse [_(Capsella bursa-pastoris)_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsella_bursa-pastoris), but the seed pods in your photo look much more rounded.

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**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-plant-called/823986/3 "2018-11-05T03:38:31Z")

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Daddy called it pepperweed. He was always fighting it in his lawn and garden. I suppose it’s invasive.

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**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-plant-called/823986/4 "2018-11-05T05:24:19Z")

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I think it’s some kind of pepperweed, genus _Lepidium_, maybe [field pepperweed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepidium_campestre) or [Virginia pepperweed.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepidium_virginicum) The plants are edible as a green and the seeds can be used as a spice. Shepherd’s purse differs in having an indentation at the top of the seeds.