Meum athamanticum 'Spignel'

Apiaceae: an aromatic herb to 60cm, it is a hollow-stemmed perennial of upland grassland. The fibrous remains of the previous year’s leaf stalks crown the root-stock. The flowers are creamy white, in frothy-looking umbels up to 6cm across, blooming from May-July. The leaves are pinnate, with bristly- like lobes. Quite rare, found from North Wales, North Western England and Scotland. Native to Europe, including Britain, from Norway south and east to Spain, Germany and the Balkans.

USES:

The root can be cooked and used like parsnips. The leaves can be used as a condiment in soups, stews and vegetable dishes, they add a subtle sweetish flavour.

The herb has diuretic, emmenagogue and stomachic properties.

GROWING INFORMATION:

Grows well in almost any fertile well-drained moderately retentive soil in a sunny position.

Stored seed should be sown in the autumn in a cold frame or greenhouse. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and plant them out in the summer or the following spring.

HARVESTED: 2021*

 

APPROX. 45 SEEDS