MyHerbCorner

My dear Austrian friend Heidi brought me on the track to research honesty (Lunaria)

She told me this interesting plant is called ‘Tuerkischer Spinat‘ in her area which means ‘Turkish spinach’ in English.
It got this name because Turkish women living in Austria are collecting the young leaves to make spinach.
How cool is that!
My curiosity was born and I searched for the edibility of honesty.

Before I tell you about my findings I’d like to introduce this plant.
The white honesty (Lunaria rediviva) which is growing in moist, shadowy deciduous woods is perennial and grows 30-150 cm high.

While in Austria and possible other European countries the white one is blooming in big patches…

… we in New Zealand are more used to see the biennial honesty (Lunaria annua)
This one is producing purple flowers in it’s second year.

The flowering time is from October through November in NZ and from May to July on the Northern Hemisphere.
The flowers are hermaphrodite, which means that they have both male and female organs.
Honesty is self-fertile and is noted to attract wildlife. They are pollinated by bees, flies, moths and butterflies.

Honesty’s four petaled cross shaped flowers (a hint of the belonging to the Brassica family) smell lightly fragrant and are followed by flat circular green seedpods which are called silicles in the book Wildflowers of New Zealand (see Ref.), while they are named as silicules in the book New Zealand Wild Flower Handbook (see Ref.)
Here is a picture of my Lunaria annua developing it’s last seeds.

When ripe the green outer covering peels off and reveals a silvery papery septum.

They look so gorgeous and can be used for indoor decoration.
Honesty got it’s name Lunaria from the moon like appearance of the ripe seedpods which are shining silvery in the night if you use a flash light.
I just love to go outside in the night and discover the plants by all their secret beauty.

Honesty is also called money plant because of their resemblance to silver dollars (I like the moon name better…)
In German it is called ‘Silberblatt’ which means ‘silver leaf.’

The silvery seedpods contain winged seeds which are edible.
I did chew on one and must say it wasn’t that impressive…

But I read later that the seeds have to be cooked to get their pungent flavour and can be used as a mustard substitute.
No wonder honesty belongs to the Brassica family (mustard family)
The grounded seeds can also be mixed with cold water to produce a chemical reaction in which an enzyme (myrosin) acts on a glycoside (sinigrin) to produce a sulphur compound which is giving you a nice mustard flavour.
The reaction is said to take 10 – 15 minutes (ok, I didn’t chew that long *g)
If you like a mild bitter mustard, mix honesty seeds with hot water or vinegar, or with salt to inhibit the enzyme.
Unfortunately I can’t find enough seeds to try this out… can you?

The root of honesty is also edible and can be eaten raw.
I tasted this one raw and found it slightly aromatic, kind of radish.

Collect the roots before the flowers appear. The inside looks like a flower with it’s hollow chambers.

Since honesty self sows freely and Lunaria annua is biennial, I will collect more of them as soon as it is the right season. The roots and flowers of the above pictures are from one plant I found in the garden and I think the radish taste of the root will be stronger when collected at the proper time (before blooming AND seeding :- )

Here is a pic of a young plant which leaves can be added to salad.

They taste kind of green with a hint of mustard aroma.
When the leaves are older they get a bit sturdy and hairy so they are better cooked like spinach.
The leaves of honesty are heart shaped and dark green with coarsely toothed edges.
Their branching stems are hairy.

You can find Lunaria on waste areas or around gardens. It avoids acid soil and prefers neutral and basic (alkaline) soils.
Honesty loves shade to part shade and is not frost tender because I can find new plants growing now in our very late autumn with all it’s chills. It is fast-growing and usually self-sow freely.
I sometimes counted 8-10 seeds in one pod but mostly there have been 6.

Thanks Heidi for the first three pictures and giving me the tip of honesty’s edibility.
I already like the roots and it comes handy since you don’t need to cook them and as you know… I am always hungry

References:
Wildflowers of New Zealand, by Geoff & Liz Brunsden ISBN 1-86966-047-1
New Zealand Wild Flower Handbook, by Owen & Audrey Bishop, ISBN 1-86958-924-6
Wild Blumen, by Bertram Muenker, Mosaik Verlag GmbH, Muenchen
www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Lunaria+annua

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