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Barbarea vulgaris · paprastoji barborytė

EN · bittercress, herb barbara, rocketcress, yellow rocketcress, winter rocket, wound rocket DE · Winterkresse LT · paprastoji barborytė LV · lokaugļu zvērene PL · gorczycznik pospolity

The young leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. The buds and flowers are also edible. Most B. vulgaris genotypes are naturally resistant to some insect species that are otherwise specialized on the crucifer family. Glucosinolates such as glucobarbarin and glucobrassicin are used as a cue for egg-laying by female cabbage white butterflies such as Pieris rapae. Indeed, the larvae of this butterfly thrive well on this plant. Diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) females are also stimulated by these chemicals, but the larvae die due to the content of saponins which are apparently not sensed by the moths. This phenomenon has been tested for biological insect control: B. vulgaris plants are placed in a field and attract much of the diamondback moth egg load. As the larvae die shortly after hatching, this kind of insect control has been named "dead-end trap cropping".