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Smyrnium olusatrum
Also called Horse Parsley, Black Lovage, Alexanders [smyrnium Olusatrum], Alexanders Parsley, Alisanders, Common Alexanders
Alexanders is a stout biennial (sometimes perennial) in the carrot family, found on waste ground and hedges in coastal Europe and the Mediterranean. It is grown mainly as a edible wild or pot herb, and it is easy to establish from seed in mild climates.
Smyrnium olusatrum, common name alexanders (or alisander), is an edible flowering plant of the family Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) which grows on waste ground and in hedges around the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastal regions of Europe. It was formerly widely grown as a pot herb, but is now appreciated mostly by foragers.
Alexanders is widespread in Britain, where it is frequent in coastal areas in the south, becoming progressively rarer towards the north of Scotland, and absent from Orkney and Shetland. Inland, it is often found close to the sites of medieval monastery gardens and other historical places such as castles. In Ireland it is common around the south and east coasts, but rare inland and to the west.
The plant is best collected before the flowers open and the stems can be cooked like asparagus. It was once highly valued in northern Europe as an early vegetable: one of the few fresh plants that can be eaten in February or March. In the west of Britain, it had a reputation amongst sailors of "clearing the blood" and curing scurvy, and in Dorset it was known as "helrut", which is possibly a corruption of "heal root". The seeds have also been used as a cure for scurvy.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Smyrnium olusatrum 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.
