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 a stout, glabrous (hairless) biennial growing to 150 (sometimes 180) cm tall, with a solid stem up to 22 mm in diameter, which becomes hollow and grooved with age. It has a tuberous tap-root which can be 60 cm long, as well as fibrous lateral roots.[1]
One lateral and two tertiary umbels at fruiting, showing differing ratios of bisexual and male-only flowers
The stem leaves are arranged in a spiral (although the upper cauline ones are often opposite and sometimes in whorls of 3), with an inflated, purple-striped, fleshy petiole that has papery margins towards the base. The compound leaves are broadly diamond-shaped, 2- or 3-times ternately (sometimes pinnately) divided. Sometimes they are slightly hairy towards the base. The individual leaflets are dark green above, pale green below, flat, lobed and serrated with obtuse teeth that have a tiny white hydathode at the tip.[2][3]
Flowers of alexanders on a terminal umbel
Inflorescences are terminal or in the leaf axils and consist of an umbel of umbels, 6-7 cm in diameter, with 5-25 rays which are glabrous, ridged and 2-4 cm long. There are 3-4 bracts which are small, pale and inconspicuous (or absent), and the peduncle is usually longer than the rays. The individual umblets are 10-20 mm across with 10-20 flowers and 1-5 tiny bracteoles. The actinomorphic flowers are small, with 5 yellowish petals and 5 tiny, green sepals, 5 stamens and (if present) 2 styles.
Sometimes there are 4 or 5 peduncles branching from the top of the stem, giving the impression of an umbel of umbels of umbels. Generally, it is only the terminal umbel that has 100% bisexual flowers; the lateral ones having both bisexual and male-only flowers (typically the male umbellules are in the centre); while the tertiary umbels often have only male flowers. This is best seen at maturity, when the male-only flowers wither without producing fruit.[1]
Close-up of the immature fruits, showing how the fruit is made of two segments (mericarps)Mature fruits (schizocarps) splitting into two mericarps, and revealing the carpophore between them
The mature fruit is a black schizocarp 6.5-8 mm long, which splits into two single-seeded mericarps, revealing a stalk (the carpophore) that runs between them. Each mericarp has 3 ridges and numerous vittae (oil tubes), which exude a pungent oil which smells of capsicum or diesel.[2] A single plant may produce between 3,000 and 9,000 seeds in a single year.[4][1]
Compound umbels of alexanders have three levels of flower stalks: peduncles (4 in this picture), rays (8) and pedicels (numerous)
Taxonomy
Smyrnium olusatrum is in one of the numerous genera that are assigned to the subfamily Apoideae within the carrot family. The Apoideae are characterised by highly divided leaves, a lack of stipules, the compound umbels, the presence of a stylopodium, and fruit with a membranous endocarp and vittae.[4]
It was named by Linnaeus in 1753 in Species Plantarum (p. 262). Its name has remained unchanged since then, although the same plant has subsequently been given two other names (synonyms) which, as they came later, do not stand: Smyrnium maritimum Salisb. (1796) and Smyrnium vulgare Gray (1821). The plant was of course well known before Linnaeus's time but names pre-dating this are not used in botany (Linnaeus himself gave Hipposelinum theophrasti and Smyrnium dioscoridis as synonyms, citing Gaspard Bauhin's Pinax theatri botanici (1623)). A type specimen has subsequently been designated (lectotype), which is at the Natural History Museum in London.[5]
There are no named subspecies or varieties and it is not known to hybridise with any other species.[6]
The generic name Smyrnium is derived from the Greek word for myrrh and the epithet olusatrum was the Roman name of a plant, from the Latin, olus = herb, and ater = black. The English name, alexanders, is a corruption of the Latin (olus ater ⇒ alisander) and does not have anything to do with Alexander the Great. There are numerous other vernacular names for it, including allsander, alshinder, alick, skit, skeet, hellroot (a corruption of "heal root"[7]), megweed, wild parsley, Macedonian parsley, wild celery, horse celery, stanmarch and black lovage.[8][1][9]
In Italy it is commonly known as macerone or maceronous corinol[10] (because it grows on rubble) and in Greece it is widely known as agrioselino (wild celery).[11]
In older botanical works, the planet symbol for Mars (♂) sometimes appears by the name.[12] This is simply a code to show that the plant is a biennial.[9]
Identification
There are few difficulties in recognising alexanders in northern Europe. Its compound ternate leaves are very distinctive, as are the yellow flowers. Amongst wild plants, it could possibly be confused with hemlock water-dropwort or wild celery but those species have white flowers. A commonly cultivated herb which does resemble it in its dark, shiny foliage is Lovage, but that has more sharply toothed leaves, no latex in the petiole, and a more erect habit.[3][13]
Distribution and status
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.[14]
Distribution of alexanders in Europe
Inland, it is often found close to the sites of medieval monastery gardens and other historical places such as castles.[15][16] In Ireland it is common around the south and east coasts, but rare inland and to the west.[17][1]
In Europe it occurs throughout the Mediterranean, where it is recorded in all coastal areas, including the islands, and it extends as far as Crimea and the Black Sea. It is also found along the Atlantic coast of the continent from the Iberian Peninsula northwards through France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and (recently) into Norway; and westwards to the Azores. In north Africa it is restricted to the Mediterranean and Atlantic regions, including the Canary Islands.
The conservation status of alexanders in Britain is LC,[18] and it is not considered to be threatened in any region, although it is rare in some countries, such as Belgium.[19]
Habitat and ecology
In Britain and the more northerly parts of Europe, the main habitat for alexanders is tall grassland, typically on road verges and woodland edges. It favours some soil disturbance initially, but once established it can be so dominant as to suppress most other plants. In the British National Vegetation Classification this habitat is described as a herb-rich type of MG1 false oat-grass community which, under other circumstances, would likely be dominated by cow parsley. A similar habitat occurs on the edges of scrub communities such as W21 hawthorn, W22 blackthorn or W24 bramble scrub.[20] It is common on waste ground and field margins, especially near the sea, where it may also be found on cliff paths and near the shore.[21]
It occurs on neutral to slightly calcareous damp soils which are moderately fertile, often in light shade. Although it is more common around the coast than inland, it has little tolerance for salt and its occurrence there may have more to do with milder temperatures found near the sea.[1]
It is a strictly lowland plant in northern Europe. In Britain, it is recorded no higher than 290 m, at Davidstow Airfield in Cornwall.[23]
In the Mediterranean, its habitat is similarly associated with patches of bare ground, but it is also likely to be found in phrygana, olive groves and orchards.[24]
The unspecialised flowers of alexanders are fragrant and are visited by a wide variety of insects. This is facilitated by the stylopodium, the bulbous base of umbellifer flowers, which secretes copious amounts of nectar that is easily available. In Britain, over 150 species have been recorded at the flowers, including many flies and bees, several beetles, butterflies and moths, and several other types of insect.[1]
Plants are often infected with "alexanders rust", Puccinia smyrnii Biv.-Bernh., which produces orange/yellow galls on both sides of the leaves and thickening of the stems, followed by dark brown telia on the undersides of the leaves only.[25]
There are at least nine species of insect which are found on alexanders in Britain and western Europe. Three produce leaf mines: the celery fly, Euleia heraclei (L., 1758), which creates dark patches on the leaf surface; a beetle, Orthochaetes insignis (Aube, 1863), whose larvae produce irregular tunnels; and another fly, Phytomyza smyrnii Spencer, 1954 (which has not been found in Britain but is known in Portugal), that creates linear mines.[26]
Other phytophages include the obscure beetle Liophloeus tessulatus (Müller, 1776), which apparently eats the roots and leaves. Three are aphids, Dysaphis apiifolia (Theobald), D. crataegi (Kaltenbach) (the hawthorn-carrot aphid) and D. lauberti (Borner, C.), which all suck the sap. The remaining two are micro-moths, Agonopterix heracliana (L.), whose larvae spin the leaves, and Udea prunalis (Denis & Schiffermüller), whose caterpillars feed on the leaves.[27]
Blisters of "alexanders rust", Puccinia smyrniiLeaf mines produced by Euleia heraclei larvae
History
Alexanders is commonly supposed to be the herb described by Dioscorides as Hipposelinum, which the Romans called olusatrum. William Turner, writing in the late 16th century, explained how this was the accepted wisdom of his "masters", Antonius Musa, Fuchsius and Ruellius (referring to their herbals). However, after reading Dioscorides's De Materia Medica he realised that "our [i.e. English] Alexander is not Smyrniū in Dioscorides," because that species had paler leaves than parsley, a purplish colour, and a white root. Dioscorides himself had said as much, writing "Hipposelinum is different to that which is properly called smyrnium".[28][29] It therefore appears as if smyrnium and olusatrum were originally different plants which were confused, or conflated, by European herbalists.
This confusion only deepened in the following years. In the mid-17th century Nicholas Culpeper explained that "alisander... is sold in apothecaries' shops as Macedonian parsley-seed." However, he acknowledged that it was grown in "all the gardens in Europe, and so well known, that it needs no farther description."[30]John Ray explained in 1660 that alexanders was so called because in Italy and Germany it was known as herba alexandrina, having been supposed to have been brought from Alexandria.[1]
The mature fruits are black, which is possibly why it was believed to be the "black herb" of the Romans
Alexanders (i.e. modern Smyrnium olusatrum) is often described as being native to the Mediterranean and only introduced further north,[15] but Randall points out that this is not based on any real evidence.[1] The earliest find of alexanders in Britain is a seed found at a Roman site at Caerwent.[31] This may be only because the pollen (which would normally provide palaeobotanical evidence) is difficult to identify. For this reason, and from the reading of Dioscorides, it is commonly said to have been introduced by the Romans.[32] Some authors, however, treat it as native.[33]
In Britain, the first record of alexanders as a living plant was by Turner in 1562. He wrote "Our Alexander groweth... in ilands compassed about the se between the far parte of Sommerset shere and Wales."[34] The site mentioned may have been Steep Holm, where John Lightfoot also saw it in 1773.[35][1]
Uses
Alexanders 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".[7] The seeds have also been used as a cure for scurvy.[36]
One 17th century text describes young shoots used in salads or a "vernal pottage" and an early 18th century recipe recorded by Caleb Threlkeld for Irish Lenten Potage includes alexanders, watercress and nettles.[15][37] In Turkey, where it is known as Baldiran or Göret, the young shoots and leaves are cooked and eaten with yoghurt, or eaten fresh as a salad, while the roots are also eaten, either cooked or fresh.[38] These are considered to be the best part, and are dug up during the winter, when the tubers are most fleshy, although foragers in Britain often overlook them, as it is illegal to uproot wild plants.[39] The young foliage is intermediate in flavor between celery and parsley and the seeds have an acrid, peppery taste.[40] It fell out of favour in the 18th century after celery started being mass produced to replace wild herbs and vegetables. It is not commonly used as a food product in the modern era,[15] but has found some renewed use in exotic "foraged" food recipes and restaurants.[41] It is also fed to livestock.[36]
Rev. John Skinner reported that bundles of alexanders stalks from Steep Holm were used for fuel in the 19th century.[42][1]
Although many authors claim that alexanders seeds smell of myrrh (presumably because of the name, Smyrnium) there are no documented reports of it being used as that. Studies have identified numerous aromatic compounds in various parts of the plant, but none is currently extracted for commercial purposes.[1]
Related Research Articles
Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus Apium, and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plants, with more than 3,800 species in about 446 genera, including such well-known, and economically important plants as ajwain, angelica, anise, asafoetida, caraway, carrot, celery, chervil, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel, lovage, cow parsley, parsley, parsnip and sea holly, as well as silphium, a plant whose exact identity is unclear and may be extinct.
Celery is a cultivated plant belonging to the species Apium graveolens in the family Apiaceae that has been used as a vegetable since ancient times. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves. Celery seed powder is used as a spice. Celeriac and leaf celery are different groups of cultivars of Apium graveolens.
Parsley, or garden parsley is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to Greece, Morocco and the former Yugoslavia. It has been introduced and naturalized in Europe and elsewhere in the world with suitable climates, and is widely cultivated as an herb and a vegetable.
Petroselinum is a genus of two parsley species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to western and southern Europe and northern Africa.
Oenanthe, known as water dropworts, oenanthes, water parsleys, and water celeries, are a genus of plants in the family Apiaceae. Most of the species grow in damp ground, such as in marshes or in water.
Lovage is a tall perennial plant, the sole species in the genus Levisticum in the family Apiaceae, subfamily Apioideae. It has been long cultivated in Europe and the leaves are used as a herb, the roots as a vegetable, and the seeds as a spice, especially in southern European cuisine. Its flavour and smell are reminiscent both of celery and parsley, only more intense and spicier than either. The seeds can be used in the same way as fennel seeds.
Aegopodium podagraria, commonly called ground elder, is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family Apiaceae that grows in shady places. The name "ground elder" comes from the superficial similarity of its leaves and flowers to those of elder (Sambucus), which is not closely related. Other common names include herb gerard, bishop's weed, goutweed, gout wort, snow-in-the-mountain, English masterwort and wild masterwort. It is the type species of the genus Aegopodium. It is native to Europe and Asia, but has been introduced around the world as an ornamental plant, where it occasionally poses an ecological threat as an invasive exotic plant.
Conium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae. As of December 2020, Plants of the World Online accepts six species.
Myrrhis odorata, with common names cicely, sweet cicely, myrrh, garden myrrh, and sweet chervil, is a herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the celery family Apiaceae. It is the only species in the genus Myrrhis.
Apium graveolens, known in English as wild celery, is an Old World species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.
Apium is a genus, as currently circumscribed by Plants of the World Online, of 12 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, with an unusual highly disjunct distribution with one species in the temperate Northern Hemisphere in the Western Palaearctic, and the rest in the temperate Southern Hemisphere in southern Africa, southern South America, Australia, and New Zealand. They are prostrate to medium-tall annual, biennial or perennial herbs growing up to 1 m high in wet soil, often marshes and salt marshes, and have pinnate to bipinnate leaves and small white flowers in compound umbels. Some species are edible, notably Apium graveolens, which is the wild ancestor of the commercially important vegetables celery, celeriac and leaf celery.
Anthriscus sylvestris, known as cow parsley, wild chervil, wild beaked parsley, Queen Anne's lace or keck, is a herbaceous biennial or short-lived perennial plant in the family Apiaceae (Umbelliferae). It is also sometimes called mother-die, a name that is also applied to the common hawthorn. It is native to Europe, western Asia and northwestern Africa. It is related to other diverse members of Apiaceae, such as parsley, carrot, hemlock and hogweed. It is often confused with Daucus carota, another member of the Apiaceae also known as "Queen Anne's lace" or "wild carrot".
Sium suave, the water parsnip or hemlock waterparsnip, is a perennial wildflower in the family Apiaceae. It is native to many areas of both Asia and North America. The common name water parsnip is due to its similarity to parsnip and its wetland habitat. The alternate common name hemlock waterparsnip is due to its similarity to the highly poisonous spotted water hemlock.
Cyclospermum leptophyllum is a species of plant in the family Apiaceae known by the common names marsh parsley, slender celery and fir-leaved celery; one source also mentions the name of wild cherry, although this may be a misspelling of "wild celery". This is a plant found worldwide at warm temperate to tropical latitudes and is considered a noxious weed in many areas. It is a taprooted branching herb reaching just over half a meter in height at maximum. It has threadlike green leaves a few centimeters long and small umbels of spherical flowers.
Zizia aurea is a flowering herbaceous perennial plant of the carrot family Apiaceae. It is native to eastern Canada and the United States, from the eastern Great Plains to the Atlantic Coast. The genus is named for Johann Baptist Ziz, a German botanist. The common name is based on the similarity to alexanders, another member of the carrot family from coastal areas in Europe and Northern Africa.
Oenanthe pimpinelloides is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae known by the common name corky-fruited water-dropwort. It is a plant of tall, lightly grazed or infrequently mown grassland and coastal meadows in Europe and neighbouring parts of Asia and North Africa.
Ligusticum scoticum, known as Scots lovage, or Scottish licorice-root, is a perennial flowering plant in the celery family Apiaceae found near the coasts of northern Europe and north-eastern North America. It grows up to 60 centimetres (24 in) tall and is found in rock crevices and cliff-top grassland. It is closely related to, and possibly conspecific with, Ligusticum hultenii from the coast of the northern Pacific Ocean. The plant is edible and contains the compound sotolon, which is also present in fenugreek. The leaves have a flavour similar to parsley or celery, while the seeds taste similar to fenugreek or cumin.
Oenanthe crocata, hemlock water-dropwort is a flowering plant in the carrot family, native to Europe, North Africa and western Asia. It grows in damp grassland and wet woodland, often along river and stream banks. All parts of the plant are extremely toxic and it has been known to cause human and livestock poisoning.
Sison amomum is one of several species of plant in the genus of Sison, its common name is stone parsley and it is native to Western and Southern Europe, North Africa and Turkey. The species and genus are flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, both of which were first described by Carl Linnaeus, in his book Species Plantarum, originally published in 1753. The plant has many synonyms, having also subsequently been described by other botanists, after Linnaeus, including Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, Richard Anthony Salisbury, Conrad Moench, Emanuel Mendes da Costa, and Albert Thellung among others.
↑ Ravindran, P. N. (2017). The encyclopedia of herbs and spices. Wallingford, England: CAB International. p.117. ISBN9781780643151.
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↑ Hackney, P.(Ed) 1992 Stewart and Corry's Flora of the North-east of Ireland. Institute of Irish Studies The Queen's University of Belfast. ISBN0-85389-446-9.
↑ Redfern, Margaret; Shirley, Peter (2002). "British Plant Galls". Field Studies. 10: 207–531.
↑ Pitkin, B.; Ellis, W.; Plant, C.; Edmunds, R. "SMYRNIUM. Alexanders. [Apiaceae]". The leaf and stem mines of British flies and other insects. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
↑ Lyell, A.H. (1911). "Appendix on the vegetable remains from Caerwent". Archaeologia. 62: 448.
↑ Sanderson, Helen; Renfrew, Jane M. (2005). Prance, Ghillean; Nesbitt, Mark (eds.). The Cultural History of Plants. Routledge. p.113. ISBN0415927463.
↑ Hanbury, F.J.; Marshall, E.S. (1899). Flora of Kent. London: Frederick J. Hanbury.
↑ Clarke, W.A. (1900). First Records of British Flowering Plants. London: West, Newman & Co.
↑ Riddelsdell, H.J. (1905). "Lightfoot's visit to Wales in 1733". Journal of Botany. 43: 290–307.
1 2 French, D.H. (1971). "Ethnobotany of the Umbelliferae". In Heywood, V.H. (ed.). The Biology and Chemistry of the Umbelliferae. Academic Press. pp.385–412. ISBN0-12-346940-6.
↑ MM. Vilmorin-Andrieux; W.Robinson. 1885/undated. The vegetable garden: Illustrations, descriptions, and culture of the garden vegetables of cold and temperate climates, English Edition. Jeavons-Leler Press and Ten Speed Press. 1920 edition in Internet Archive
↑ Doğan, A.; Bulut, G.; Tuzlaci, E. (2014). "A review of edible plants on the Turkish Apiaceae species". Journal of the Faculty of Pharmacy of İstanbul Üniversity. 44: 251–262.
↑ Wright, John (2020). The Forager's Calendar. London: Profile Books. ISBN978-1-78125-622-0.
↑ Down to Earth Bushcraft. "Alexanders". Retrieved 27 July 2022.
↑ Phillips, Roger (1983). Wild Food. London: Pan Books.
↑ Legg, R. (1993). Steep Holm Legends and History. Wincanton: Wincanton Press.
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