Home
The University Gardens
HISTORICAL PLANTS OF BERGEN

Aegopodium podagraria (ground elder)

An ancient medicinal plant and detested, but edible, weed.

tyskerkål/hanefot
Photo:
Reidun Myking

Main content

Traditionally, the plant is called hanefot (literally rooster’s foot) here in Bergen, due to the shape of the leaf. The name tyskerkål (German cabbage) is also used.

It is uncertain whether the plant was introduced by monks as a medicinal plant against rheumatism and gout in the Middle Ages, as the name suggests. Today it is a detested weed in gardens in many places, especially in southern Norway. However, it has been used as a salad and soup vegetable, a use that can still be recommended.

Return to Bergen's plants.