Scurvy Grass, a sailor’s best friend

When Captain James Cook anchored off Ship Cove in the 1770s, he was thrilled to see Lepidium Olearaceum growing at the edge of the forest.

His crew were encouraged to ‘eat their greens’ because this plant is rich in vitaminC, which prevents scurvy.

Until recently ‘Cook’s Scurvy Grass’, as it became known, was thought to be extinct. However it was rediscovered on a remote island in the outer Marlborough Sounds.

It is hoped that Cook’s Scurvy Grass will one day grow again at Ship Cove.