Opopanax chironium PAB 845 

'Sweet Myrrh'

[Ex. Vigos Gorge, Greece]

Apiaceae: a perennial herb to 1.8 m, which has a branching stem, thick and rough close to the base. Found on stony ground, in olive groves, and vineyards. The flowers are in large, flat, yellow inflorescence at the top of the branches, blooming from June-July. The leaves are serrate, pinnate, with long petioles. Native to Iran, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Somalia.

USES:

The resin has been used in the treatment of spasms, and, before that, as an emmenagogue, in the treatment of asthma, chronic visceral infections, hysteria and hypochondria. Opopanax resin is most frequently sold in dried irregular pieces, though tear-shaped gems are not uncommon.

This plant is used in the production of certain perfumes. A consumable resin known as Opopanax can be extracted from the Opopanax plant by cutting at the base of a stem and sun-drying the juice that flows out. Though people often find the taste acrid and bitter, the highly flammable resin can be burned as incense to produce a scent somewhat like balsam or lavender.

GROWING INFORMATION:

Seed is best sown in the autumn, but the seed can be stratified and sown in spring but will then be slow to germinate. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a cold frame for their first winter. easily grown plant, succeeding in any good well-drained garden soil, in full sun. hardy for me in the North East of England. Plants resent root disturbance.

HARVESTED: 2023*

APPROX. 15 SEEDS