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> Rare and Endangered > Cook's scurvy grass
| Common
name: Cook's scurvy grass |
Botanical
name: Lepidium oleraceum
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| Family: Brassicaceae |
Maximum height: 50cm |
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Where found:
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- Moturoa Island (Sugar Loaf Islands)
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| Description: |
- An erect or spreading lush herb.
- Lower leaves 3-10 cm long, toothed.
- Small white flowers in racemes, terminal (at the top of the
plant).
- Belonging to the same family as the cabbage, this plant was
recognised by Captain Cook as a source of vitamins and eaten to
prevent scurvy, hence the common name.
- Reasons for the decline of this threatened plant include browsing
and perhaps the appearance of the cabbage white butterfly in the
1930s.
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Click
on image for larger picture
PHOTO: Barry Hartley
PHOTO: Colin Ogle
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