Shepherd’s Purse

Shepherd’s purse (a literal translation of its species name) and I had our first encounter at a raucous market on Flushing’s Main Street in Queens, New York City—not on a country lane, as you might expect. Since its name was indicated by the Korean character (and sloppily, as I later found out), I wasn’t aware of what I had met until some time later. It took a month to identify the plant, which I dried and pressed, then sent to a handful of helpful experts sprinkled around the globe.