Shepherd's Purse

Most of our Shepherd's Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) is going to seed now, the tiny, rather insignificant white flowers replaced by eye-catching heart-shaped seed pods. Supposedly, those seed pods look a bit like the tiny purses people used to hang from their belts, which is how the flower got its common name. This weedy wildflower is an archeophyte — that is, it was introduced to the British Isles before 1500. It may not have been a deliberate introduction; instead the seeds may have been carried in on clothing or livestock fur or wagon wheels from mainland Europe, where it is widespread. However, it has been widely known as a medicinal plant since the time of the Romans, so it may have been transported for that reason. (Pliny the Elder, for example, called the seeds an important laxative and aphrodisiac.) The plant is still used in herbal medicines in parts of Europe and Asia, its leaves are added to salads or cooked as vegetables, and its peppery seed pods are sometimes used as a replacement for mustard seeds.