chervil

chervil

1. an aromatic umbelliferous Eurasian plant, Anthriscus cerefolium, with small white flowers and aniseed-flavoured leaves used as herbs in soups and salads

2. bur chervil a similar and related plant, Anthriscus caucalis

3. a related plant, Chaerophyllum temulentum, having a hairy purple-spotted stem

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

chervil

chervil

Not really a full umbrella, but has parsley-like leaves and white flowers. Flowers have anise-like flavor. Leaves used like parsley. Better to eat raw because heat takes away the flavor. Used as digestive aid, for high blood pressure, mild stimulant.

Edible Plant Guide © 2012 Markus Rothkranz

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Chervil

 

(Chaerophyllum), a genus of plants of the family Umbelliferae. Chervils are biennial or perennial herbs with compound-pinnate incised leaves and small, white flowers (more rarely, purple, pink, or other shades), gathered into compound umbels. About 40 species grow in Europe, Asia, and America. In America there are several species. In the USSR there are more than 20 species, mainly in the Caucasus. Tuberous chervil (Chaerophyllum bulbosum), widespread in the European USSR, has edible, thickened, tuber-like roots. In Western Europe this species is cultivated. The roots of several other species are also edible. Intoxicating chervil (C. temulum or C. temulentum), which grows in the European USSR and the Caucasus, is considered a poisonous plant. Prescott chervil, or steppe chervil (C. prescottii), which is found in the European USSR, Siberia, and Middle Asia, and tuberous chervil are biennial weeds that choke newly planted cereal grains. Measures to control them include deep plowing, trimming the roots back as far as the carrot-like part, decontaminating the seeds, and spraying plantings with herbicides.

REFERENCES

Grossgeim, A. A. Rastitel’nye bogatstva Kavkaza, 2nd ed. Moscow, 1952.
Ipat’ev, A. N. Ovoshchnye rasteniia zemnogo shara. Minsk, 1966.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.