Herb. No. 100 · Apiaceae
Eastern Mediterranean garden green, now a kitchen row worldwide.
Native · Mediterranean · Europe
Native Also grownNow a garden plant worldwide
LegalGentleplant
Parsley
Petroselinum crispum
Medicinal herbsKitchenHarvestCompanionsLookalikes
The garnish that is actually a mineral-green — a kitchen herb with a traditional kidney-and-breath record.
Parsley is food first. Traditional European use also treats it as a fresh, slightly diuretic green after rich meals. Culinary bunches are the safest form. Medicinal amounts of seed or oil are a different, stronger drug, especially in pregnancy. Identify garden parsley; wild Apiaceae include deadly plants.
Flavor
Green, mineral, a little peppery — curly is milder, flat-leaf is louder.
Parts used
Leaf · Stem
Helpful
- Always in the kitchen
- Easy from seed
Cautions
- Seed and oil are not food doses
- Lookalikes in the wild
Do not confuse
- Poison hemlockPoison hemlock is still pulled as ‘wild parsley.’ A purple-spotted stem is the difference between supper and Socrates’ cup.
- Water hemlockCicuta is the deadliest plant in North American ditches. A wet-ground parsley look-alike has killed people who wanted a garnish.
- CilantroTwo flat-leaf herbs on the same board. One is coriander. The other is Petroselinum. A soapy leaf is not hemlock — but the umbel family still wants a name.