Appearance
The hollow stems of watercress will float; the leaf structure is pinnately compound. Small, white and green flowers are produced in clusters and are frequently visited by insects, especially hoverflies such as "Eristalis" flies.
Naming
It is a member of the family Brassicaceae; watercress and its relatives garden cress, mustard, radish, and wasabi are all noteworthy for their piquant flavors.
Distribution
In some regions, watercress is regarded as a weed, in other regions as an aquatic vegetable or herb. Watercress has been grown in many locations around the world.In the United Kingdom, watercress was first commercially cultivated in 1808 by the horticulturist William Bradbery, along the River Ebbsfleet in Kent. Watercress is now grown in a number of counties of the United Kingdom, most notably Hertfordshire, Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset. The town of Alresford, near Winchester, holds a Watercress Festival that brings in more than 15,000 visitors every year, and a preserved steam railway line has been named after the local crop. In recent years, watercress has become more widely available in the UK, at least in the southeast; it is stocked pre-packed in some supermarkets, as well as fresh by the bunch at farmers' markets and greengrocers.
Alresford in the U.K. is considered to be that nation's watercress capital.
In the United States in the 1940s, Huntsville, Alabama, was locally known as the "watercress capital of the world".
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