crinkleroot n esp NY, PA
A bittercress n, usu Cardamine diphylla.
1847 Knickerbocker 29.377, Sassafras is ‘coming good’ now too in the woods; and so is ‘crinkle-root’. 1873 Wood Co. Reporter (Grand Rapids WI) 10 July [5]/6, As it is however, when the excursion comes off, we want to go out on a potatobug killing excursion, or dig crinkle root in the rain, or hunt for sassafras bark. 1886 Burroughs Signs & Seasons 165 ceNY, When I was a schoolboy, we used to gather . . the roots of a closely allied species to eat with our lunch. . . Our name for this plant was “Crinkle-root.” The botanists call it the toothwort (Dentaria), also pepper-root. 1892 Meehan’s Mth. 2.38/1 cNY, A query is propounded in regard to the botanical name of Crinkle-root ; it is Dentaria diphylla of Linnæus, . . How well do I remember in my boyhood days, the woodland rambles . . , and the bread-and-butter lunches eaten upon a mossy rock, and savored with delicious Crinkle-roots, that served for water-cresses. 1899 (1900) Van Dyke Fisherman’s Luck 74 Alleghany Mts, Crinkle-root is spicy, but you must partake of it delicately, or it will bite your tongue. 1923 Scranton Republican (PA) 24 May 8/4, The toothroot or pepper-root grows quite abundantly in these woods. . . In my boyhood days we were in the habit of searching for this plant in order to get the peppery roots. In our neighborhood it was known as crinkle-root, but I do not see this name given in any of the books. The botanical name is Dentaria diphylla. 1944 Escanaba Daily Press (MI) 20 May 7/4, Crinkle root is growing rank . . and we stop for a moment to add to our basket of dandelion greens and morel mushrooms, a few of the peppery roots to eat with bread and butter. 1968 DARE (Qu. S26c, Wildflowers that grow in woods) Inf PA99, Crinkleroot; also pepperroot. 1969 Potter Enterprise (Coudersport PA) 26 Mar 2/6, Memory brings back the time when a growing boy could nearly make a meal on a slice or two of bread and butter and crinkle root. 1997 Press & Sun–Bulletin (Binghamton NY) 12 June sec C 1/2, Crinkle Root “It grows in the streams on our farm. We would gather it for fun when we were children. We would chew it. . .”