Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medikus                                                                     Brassicaceae (Mustard)   Europe     Shepherd's Purse   Lesser Shepherd's Purse

                                          March Photo                          

Plant Characteristics:  Annual, erect, 2-5 dm. tall, branched or simple, hairs simple and stellate; basal leaves in a spreading rosette, lower leaves petioled, pinnatifid, rarely entire, 3-8 cm. long, upper leaves merely dentate, sessile-auriculate; fruit strongly flattened, 4-8 mm. long, pods obcordate with pedicels; sepals green or reddish, not sac-like; fls. small, racemose, white or pink, pedicels slender, spreading or ascending, 10-15 mm. long.

Habitat:  Common weed on dry or disturbed soil, below 2300 m. Most of the year.

Name:  Latin, capsella, a little box;  bursa-pastoris, purse of a shepherd, in ancient times a leather sack swung from the belt, often 2 lobed like the seeds.  (Dale 82).

General:  Occasional in the study area.  Photographed on the Castaway's Bluffs, the North Star Flats and at 23rd Street.  (my comments).      The plant was used in China as a potherb and reportedly cultivated for the same purpose in Philadelphia.  The Cahuilla Indians who lived in the Colorado Desert, the San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains, gathered the leaves for greens.  It is reported they made a tea for the treatment of dysentery.  The leaves should be gathered before the plant flowers and are even better    when blanched by turning a pot over the plants or growing them in a basement.  (Clarke 216-217).       The plant is found throughout the year in Cahuilla territory, from the desert floor up to 7,000 feet.  The Cahuilla gathered it from January to June for use as greens.  The edible seeds were gathered from June to August. (Bean and Saubel 51).        Excellent in the case of hemorrhage after childbirth and all other internal hemorrhages.  One of the best remedies to check profuse menstruation, bleeding piles and hemorrhoids.  Steep a heaping teaspoonful to a cup of boiling water for 30 minutes and drink cold; two or more cupfuls a day as needed.  The whole plant is usable.  (Coon 90).     The little green shepherd's purse, Capsella bursa-pastoris was believed to be a valuable diuretic.  It was also said to be a good cure not only for poison ivy but also for any sores on the skin.  The entire plant was steeped; then the poisoned or sore area was washed with the liquid.  The seeds were used for pinole, a very nutritious, farinaceous beverage that the Indians learned from the Mexicans to make.  A tea for rheumatism was made from this plant.  (Fielder 144,146,428,204 ).      Shepherd's Purse has four main medicinal uses: 1. to stop bleeding under certain conditions, 2. to relieve inflammation in acute urinary infection, 3. to stimulate kidney excretion of uric acid, and 4. to strengthen and synergize the effects of native oxytocin in homebirths.  So, if you have gout or are a midwife, you need this stuff.  (Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Desert and Canyon West 108). About 5 species of Eurasia.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 279).

Text Ref:  Hickman, Ed. 407; Munz, Flora of So. Calif. 279; Roberts 15.

Photo Ref:  Jan-Feb 84 # 15; Feb 85 # 23; March-April 87 # 8.

Identity: by R. De Ruff, confirmed by F. Roberts.  

First Found:  February 1984.

Computer Ref:  Plant Data 1.  

Have plant specimen.

Last edit 6/6/05.  

                                   February Photo                                                                        February Photo