🌱 A northern herb 🥗 A salad plant

scurvy grass

9.7

A leafy garden plant with yellow flowers and peppery leaves used in salads

noun
/ˈskɜrvi græs/

: berro de invierno

Fresh scurvy grass can add a peppery flavor to winter salads.

Examples

Sailors once ate scurvy grass to ward off vitamin C deficiency on long voyages.
Many herbalists recommend scurvy grass for its high vitamin C content.
I added some scurvy grass to my salad for extra flavor.
Have you tried scurvy grass in your meals?
Fresh scurvy grass is often used in salads for its peppery flavor and high vitamin C content.
Many chefs incorporate scurvy grass into their dishes due to its rich vitamin C levels.
In the past, sailors consumed scurvy grass to prevent scurvy during long sea voyages.

Synonyms

Barbarea verna

vsscurvy grass

Specialized

9.9

A leafy plant grown for salad greens with a peppery taste

is the general genus plant prized for winter salads and vitamin C

winter cress

vsscurvy grass

7.0

A leafy plant with yellow flowers eaten in winter salads

is the same genus plant but emphasises its vitamin C value

Barbarea

vsscurvy grass

Specialized

9.9

A small wild leafy plant called winter cress with yellow flowers often eaten in salads

is one species within this genus used as a winter salad plant

St. Barbara's herb

vsscurvy grass

9.9

A leafy plant with yellow flowers that people grow for spicy winter salads

is the cultivated edible plant valued specifically for vitamin C content

Barbarea vulgaris

vsscurvy grass

Specialized

9.2

A common wild plant with small yellow flowers that grows in fields and gardens

is instead the cultivated edible form prized for winter salads and vitamin C

Surface Forms

scurvy grass singular

scurvy grasses plural

Morphology

scurvy + grass

The compound combines 'scurvy' (vitamin C deficiency) with 'grass' (a plant), so its meaning as a plant associated with scurvy or used for vitamin C is directly inferable from the constituents. This modifier+head compounding pattern is common and transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both words would grasp the general idea even without botanical detail.

Etymology

Scurvy grass is a winter salad herb with yellow flowers that was named because people ate it for vitamin C to stop 'scurvy'. The words scurvy and grass show it was a plant used as food to prevent the disease.