Parts Used
Properties
Common Uses
Locating and Handling
Caution
Origin
"A common garden plant, kept for its use in the kitchen, rather than its medicinal virtues. It grows six or eight feet high. The stalk is round, hollow, and of a deep green colour; the leaves are large, and divided into a vast number of fine slender segments, and they are also of a deep or bluish green colour. The flowers stand at the tops of the branches, and are small and yellow; but there grow large clusters of them together; the seed is small, dark coloured, and striated, and is of a sharp acrid taste; the root is long and white.
The root is the part most used; a decoction made of it with common water, and given in large quantities, works by urine, and is good against the gravel and in the jaundice."
Leaves, seeds
Carminative, diuretic, appetite suppressant, decongestant, calmative, aromatic
Make tea from the seeds, use seeds and leaves in cooking or fresh in salads. Historically considered an appetite suppressant for those who wanted to lose weight.
May be found in the grocery store, in the fresh herbs area, and as dried leaves and seeds in the spice area.
Oil may cause allergic reactions for people with sensitive skin.
Native to Mediterranean area. Used in ancient Greece and Rome.
