Parsleys, Fennels and Queen Anne’s Lace

A charming and well informed guide for gardeners and plant lovers describing the characteristics, cultivation, and history of the Umbelliferae – one of the most distinctive families in the plant kingdom.
These plants were well known to the Greeks and Romans – it was the juice of a member of the umbel family that Socrates was forced to drink – and the family was the first to be studied as such botanically, by Robert Morison in 1672. Yet even today the many herbs and ornamentals of this family are not as well known or appreciated as they should be.
Umbel-bearing plants have aromatic oils in their foliage and fruits, and many are used as herbs, spices and foods e.g. anise, caraway, carrot, celery, coriander, cummin, dill, lovage, as well as parsley and fennel. Other members of the family are more noted for their ornamental value, such as Eryngium giganteum.
The text is informative and well written and a catalogue is included of species and hybrids from more than 50 genera with growing tips where appropriate. All the more commonly grown umbellifers are described.

hardback, 156 pp, colour and b&w photographs, line drawings

9780881928228