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Cakile maritima - Scop.

Sea Rocket

Author	Scop.	Botanical references	17, 200
Family	Cruciferae	Genus	Cakile
Synonyms	Bunias cakile - L. Cakile edentula - non Hook.
Known Hazards	None known
Range	Coastal areas of Europe, including Britain, the Mediterranean, Baltic and Black Seas.
Habitat	Sandy and shingly places all around the coast[17].
Edibility Rating	2 (1-5)	Medicinal Rating	0 (1-5)

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 0.3m by 0.3m.

The plant prefers light (sandy) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil. The plant can tolerate maritime exposure.

Habitats

Cultivated Beds;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Flowers; Leaves; Root; Seedpod; Stem.

Edible Uses: Condiment.

Leaves, stems, flower buds and immature seedpods - raw or cooked. They are rich in vitamin C but have a very bitter taste[4, 66]. Used mainly as a flavouring[132]. Very young leaves can be added to salads whilst older leaves can be mixed with milder tasting leaves and used as a potherb[183, K]. Root - dried and ground into a powder, then mixed with cereal flours and used to make bread[2]. A famine food, it is only used in times of scarcity[183]. The seed contains a fatty oil[74]. No more details are given.

Medicinal Uses

None known

Other Uses

Oil.

None known

Cultivation details

Prefers a light well-drained soil and a sunny position[1, 200]. Plants are easily grown in a garden situation and can self-sow if the ground is disturbed by hoeing etc[K]. This species is closely related to C. edentula, which is native to N. America[17]. The seed is often dispersed by floating in sea water[17].

Propagation

Seed - sow late spring or early autumn in situ. Germination is usually rapid.

Links

Permaculture.info Details of this plant in the Permaculture.info project, a community plant and permaculture database.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[66] Freethy. R. From Agar to Zenery. The Crowood Press 1985 ISBN 0-946284-51-2
Very readable, giving details on plant uses based on the authors own experiences.

[74] Komarov. V. L. Flora of the USSR. Israel Program for Scientific Translation 1968
An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers.

[132] Bianchini. F., Corbetta. F. and Pistoia. M. Fruits of the Earth. 0
Lovely pictures, a very readable book.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

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