Large Toothwort (Dentaria maxima)

Family: Brassicaceae or Cruciferae | Edibility: Edible (1/5)

Dentaria maxima is a PERENNIAL growing to 0.3 m (1ft). The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs). Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland). It prefers moist soil.

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Roots/Tubers

Harvest Seasons: Fall, Spring, Winter

Flavor & Culinary Uses

Pungent and acrid when first harvested, it is piled into a heap and then allowed to ferment for several days to sweeten and then boiled. — Root - raw or cooked.; Pungent and acrid when first harvested, it is piled into a heap and then allowed to ferment for several days to sweeten and then boiled.

Habitat & North American Range

By woodland streams or on calcareous wooded slopes. (Zone 4, Zone 5, Zone 6, Zone 7, Zone 8)