Prefers a moist humus rich soil in shade or semi-shade. The flowers are rarely visited by pollinating insects and seed is rarely set, propagation is carried out by means of bulbils formed on the axils of the upper leaf stems.

Leaves - raw or cooked. A hot cress-like flavor. Bulbils - raw or cooked. They are rather small, about the size ofa lentil, but have a pleasant mild cress-like flavor. Root - raw or cooked. A hot flavor, it is pleasant but rather small.

Seed - best sown when ripe, otherwise sow it in the spring. If you have sufficient seed it can be sown in situ, otherwise it is best to sow it in pots in a cold frame. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and pant out in the summer. The bulbils can be collected in early summer and potted up. Keep them in a cold frame over the winter and plant out when in active growth in the spring.

Very local in woods, usually on calcareous soils, in Devon, S.E. England, the Chilterns and Ayr. A characteristic species of base-rich beech woodlands.