Alexanders
Smyrnium olusatrum
vegetable · herb
⚠️ Toxic look-alike
Never eat this plant unless you are certain it is not its toxic look-alike.
It is an umbellifer: poison hemlock and hemlock water dropwort, both deadly, grow on the same coasts. Alexanders has greenish-yellow flowers, never white, glossy dark green leaves divided in three, and black seeds; water dropwort has white flowers and spindle-shaped roots whose cut surface turns yellow, hemlock a purple-spotted stem and a mousy smell.
If in the slightest doubt, leave it. If you feel unwell after eating it, even several hours later, call Poison Control (1-800-222-1222) or 911.
Young stems and leaves tasting between celery and myrrh, cooked as a vegetable; the black seeds are used like pepper.
- Origin
- Mediterranean, naturalized on coasts
- Where to find it
- It covers coastal banks and ruins in Brittany, Normandy and southern England, often near the old monasteries and castles that once grew it.
- Season (United States)
- February to May
- Preparation
- The young stems are picked before flowering, peeled, then cooked for about ten minutes; the seeds are ground like pepper.
- Molecules
- In small amounts, not counted Falcarinol · Insoluble fibers
- Did you know?
- The Romans grew it; celery replaced it in the Middle Ages.