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Upcoming Events | Meet the Instructors | Plant Archive | Mushroom Archive
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Annual honesty (Lunaria annua) is a non-native biennial that can be found in cultivated gardens and as an escapee in woodlands and waste places.
Annual honesty, also known as the “money plant”, has finely hairy, heart-shaped leaves with toothed edges. The flowers have four petals in a cross shape. They are usually purple but can also be white. Seed pods are disc shaped. They start as green and eventually turn brown.
Annual honesty flowers are edible raw. They have a flavor reminiscent of wild mustard and pea shoots. Seed pods can be used as a mustard substitute. The roots can also be grated or cooked.
The plant contains nervonic acid which has been used in the treatment of Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis.
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Written by Amy Demers, founder of the Connecticut Foraging Club. To learn more about foraging in Connecticut, check out our upcoming classes.
