Water Dropwort

water dropwort Oenanthe javanica (formerly stolonifera), a water plant of the umbelliferous family, whose shoots, leaves, and roots are all eaten in the Orient and SE Asia as an adjunct to rice or an addition to soups and vegetable dishes. Their flavour tends to be too strong to permit eating them on their own. Hawkes (1968) remarks that in Hawaii it is common to find bunches of the pretty green leaves, often with roots attached, in the markets.

Hawkes also draws attention to the related O. sarmentosa of N. America whose small black-skinned tubers provided a delicacy for American Indians.