Smyrnium olusatrum (L) Alexander
NOMENCLATURE
Smyrnium: from Greek, _____ : myrrh, from smell.
olusatrum : olus : pot herb, & atrum: black (seeds).
Alexander: Of Alexandria, N. Africa
PREVIOUS NAMES : Petroselinium alexandriurn.
OTHER NAMES : Alexander parsley, Macedonia parsley. Alick, (Kent) . Ailsanders, skit.,
skeet, (Corn). Ashinder, (Scot). Megweed, (Suss). Meliroot, (Dor) . Wild Celery, (I o W)
BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION
TYPE : stout glabrous biennial. Hs.
AROMA : pungent. when crushed. Seeds aromatic.
TASTE : bitter. Bland taste when bleached.
ROOTS tuberous tap root. in first year. Fleshy.
STEMS : stem solid, furrowed old hollow. Branches in upper part, opposite. HEIGHT:50-450Cm
UMBELS : compound. Axillary and terminal, subglobose. Rays (3)7—15(18) 1—5 cm..
glabrous. Peduncle > than rays, glabrous. Terminal male + hermaphrodite. Lateral male.
LEAVES: dark green, shiny. Basal 30cm.. 2—3 ternate or pinnate. Segments 25—80mm rhombic,
obtusely serrate/lobed, stalked. Upper stem lvs opposite, simply ternate, petiole base sheathing.
Cotyledons contracted into a petiole. Bracts few or 0.
FLOWERS: yellow—green., shortly pedicel late. Calyx tiny. inconspicuous, petals inflexed, tip turning towards centre. Styles form stylopodiurn. Sepals very small, accrescent in fruit. Fl. 4—6.
FRUIT : 7—8mm.. 2 carpels joined. Broadly ovoid, laterally compressed, black when ripe.
Constricted at commisure. Mericarps with 3 conspicuous ridges and resin channels between.
Carpophore present. Vittae numerous. Pedicels > than fruit.. papillose on the inner angles.
Styles > than stylopodium, at first patent, usually recurved and appressed to the stylopodium
in ripe fruit. Stigma capiate. 2n=22.
HABITAT : hedges, waste places, sea cliffs. ditches, damp sand.
SOIL : Calcareous
DISTRIBUTION: intro. Naturalised. Common in Kent, N.E., York. Near Monastic gardens in Steepholme, Bristol Channel (Augustian l2thC). In Abbey, Elstow, Bedfordshire (Benedictine 1078). Grown by nuns
prior to 1539 Act of Dissolution. Europe to N.W. France. S.Asia. N.Africa, Macronesia.
MEDICINAL USES
PARTS : whole plant.
EFFECT : diuretic, benefits digestion.
HISTORICAL MEDICINAL USES
Culpepper, l7thC : “Seed, powdered for flatulence, snakebite, warming a cold stomach.”
EDIBLE USES
Cultivated and blanched like Celery, as pot herb. Made into sauce for fish. Young shoots and tops
of fleshy roots blanched and boiled or raw with vinegar. Roots as parsnip substitute.
Introduced by Romans to impart myrrh flavouring into broths, stews. Old Irish recipe lists Alex ander, Watercress & Nettles f or ‘Lenten Pottage’
The herb of Macedonia of Alexander the Great. Parkinson, 1640 : “Eaten at Lent to digest crudities & viscous humours gathered in the stomache.”
GARDEN USES
Moist, rich, sandy soil in sun. Seed in late summer/early spring.
