One of my favorite images from yesterday's walk around FRC is of the Watercress. This was in a 50-foot long strip of lush greenery along the south-facing side of one of the hatchery buildings. The creek that flows by has been confined to a cement channel, and I suspect the building absorbs a lot of solar energy creating a kind of windowless greenhouse. Watercress is in the mustard family, Brassicaceae, along with cabbage, broccoli, and other edibles. The scientific name is
Nasturtium officinale. There are several other species of
Nasturtium in the USA, but the garden nasturtium with its bright yellow and orange flowers is not one of them. In fact, that nasturtium isn't even in the same family. It's
Tropaeolum majus. More warm (relatively) weather ahead, so maybe we'll be seeing some crocuses and other early birds among the spring wildflowers soon.
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