Crithmum
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Crithmum is a monospecific genus of flowering plant in the carrot family, Apiaceae. The sole species, Crithmum maritimum, is commonly known as rock samphire,<ref name=GRIN/><ref name="BSBI List 2007">Template:BSBI 2007</ref> sea fennel<ref name=GRIN/> or samphire.<ref name=GRIN>Template:GRIN</ref> It is found in parts of the Old World and is edible.
Description
It is a perennial plant growing to Template:Convert in both height and width. The stems are woody at the base, fleshy elsewhere and hairless. The leaves are fleshy lobes. The greenish-yellow flowers are borne in umbels. The fruits (seed pods) are yellow or purple and up to Template:Convert.<ref name="Francis-Baker-2021">Template:Cite book</ref>
Distribution and habitat
Crithmum is found on coastlines throughout much of Europe (north to the British Isles), Macaronesia, parts of West Asia and North Africa in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts.Template:Citation needed
Cultivation
In Britain, rock samphire is cultivated in gardens,<ref name="RHS">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Phillips-1983">Template:Cite book</ref> where it grows readily in a light, rich soil. In the United Kingdom the uprooting of wild plants is illegal under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.<ref name="Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981">Template:Cite web</ref>
Uses
Rock samphire or sea fennel has fleshy, divided aromatic leaves that Culpeper described as having a "pleasant, hot and spicy taste".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The plant can be prepared much like marsh samphire (Salicornia europaea); the stems and leaves should be washed and cooked, while the stems, leaves and young seed pods can be pickled,<ref name="Francis-Baker-2021" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> perhaps in salted and spiced vinegar. The fresh leaves may be used in salads. Dried and ground sea fennel can also be used as a salt substitute.Template:Citation needed
Sea fennel pickle in olive oil or vinegar is a traditional food of Italy (Marche region), Croatia (Dalmatia), Greece, and Montenegro (Bay of Kotor). It is known as Paccasassi del Conero and used as an antipasto, to accompany fish and meat dishes and to garnish pizza and sandwiches.
Nutrition
Sea fennel has nutritional value,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and is rich in antioxidants.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
In culture
In the 17th century, Shakespeare in King Lear referred to the dangerous practice of collecting rock samphire from cliffs.<ref>Template:Cite book Act IV, scene VI, lines 14b-15. "Half-way down, Hangs one that gathers samphire; dreadful trade!"</ref> In the 19th century, samphire was shipped in casks of seawater from the Isle of Wight to market in London at the end of May each year.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Rock samphire used to be cried in London streets as "Crest Marine".<ref name="Phillips-1983" />
The reclaimed piece of land adjoining Dover, formed from spoil from the Channel Tunnel and called "Samphire Hoe", is named after rock samphire: people formerly harvested rock samphire from the neighbouring cliffs.<ref> "The name of Samphire Hoe comes from the rock samphire wild plant which was once collected from the cliffs and served as a side dish and was inspired by a passage from Shakespeare's King Lear." </ref>
References
External links
- BBC Gardeners' Question Time – where there is apparently some confusion between the glasswort (marsh samphire, found in Suffolk) and the rock samphire (found in Dorset).
- Biff Vernon discusses the common confusion between marsh samphire and rock samphire, and reproduces a poem on the subject by William Logan.
- Botanical.com
- Antioxidant activity and phenol content of Crithmum maritimum L. leaves
- Nutritional and antioxidant properties of wild edible plants and their use as potential ingredients in the modern diet