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Apiaceae FAMILY

Smyrnium perfoliatum

Smyrnium perfoliatum

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitBiennial
Growth—

Succeeds in most soils but prefers an open sunny position in a well-drained moisture retentive soil[1, 2]. Self-sows freely with us in our Cornwall garden, in a suuny, sheltered position[PFAF].

Propagation

Seed - best sown in an outdoor seedbed in autumn and planted into its permanent position in late spring[1, 2]. Germination can be slow[2]. Can also be sown in situ in spring[3]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Smyrnium+perfoliatum>

Pollinators

Insects

References

  1. [1]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  2. [2]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  3. [3]The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers — Brickell. C. · Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. · 1990 · ISBN 0-86318-386-7 ↩︎Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.
  4. [4]Flora of the British Isles. — Clapham, Tutin and Warburg. · Cambridge University Press · 1962 · ISBN - ↩︎A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
  5. [5]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  6. [6]Food for Free. — Mabey. R. · Collins · 1974 · ISBN 0-00-219060-5 ↩︎Edible wild plants found in Britain. Fairly comprehensive, very few pictures and rather optimistic on the desirability of some of the plants.
  7. [7]Free for All. — Ceres. · Thorsons Publishers · 1977 · ISBN 0-7225-0445-4 ↩︎Edible wild plants in Britain. Small booklet, nothing special.
  8. [8]Britain's Wild Larder. — Loewenfeld. C. and Back. P. · David & Charles; Newton Abbot. · ISBN 0-7153-7971-2 ↩︎A handy pocket guide.
  9. [9]The Vegetable Garden. — Vilmorin. A. · Ten Speed Press · ISBN 0-89815-041-8 ↩︎A reprint of a nineteenth century classic, giving details of vegetable varieties. Not really that informative though.
  10. [10]The Gardener's Assistant. — Thompson. B. · Blackie and Son. · 1878 · ISBN - ↩︎Excellent general but extensive guide to gardening practices in the 19th century. A very good section on fruits and vegetables with many little known species.
  11. [11]The Useful Plants of Great Britain. — Johnson. C. P. ↩︎Written about a hundred years ago, but still a very good guide to the useful plants of Britain.
  12. [12]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  13. [13]Salads all the Year Round. — Larkcom. J. · Hamlyn · 1980 ↩︎A good and comprehensive guide to temperate salad plants, with full organic details of cultivation.
  14. [14]The Wild Garden. — De. Bray. L. ↩︎Interesting reading.
  15. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎