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Conopodium majus
Also called Earthnut
Pignut is a small perennial woodland and meadow plant of western Europe, grown for its edible chestnut-like tuber, which is dug up from the soil. It is best suited to acidic, long-established grassland and needs patience, since it is a minor crop with low yields.
Conopodium majus is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the celery family, Apiaceae. Its underground part resembles a chestnut and is sometimes eaten as a wild or cultivated root vegetable. The plant has many English names (many of them shared with Bunium bulbocastanum, a related plant with similar appearance and uses) variously including kippernut, cipernut, arnut, jarnut, hawknut, earth chestnut, groundnut, and earthnut. From its popularity with pigs come the names pignut, hognut, and more indirectly Saint Anthony's nut, for Anthony the Great or Anthony of Padua, both patron saints of swineherds. (Other plants sharing these names include groundnut, earthnut, and hognut.)
The plant is common and native to western Europe, the British Isles and Norway. It grows in hedgerows, woods and fields and is an indicator of long-established grassland.
This species responds to cultivation by producing larger tubers. With careful selective breeding, it is probably possible to produce a much more productive plant.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Conopodium majus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
