Crithmum maritimum 20080801 105452 Getxo 43p3489N 3p0148W r

''Crithmum'' is a monospecific

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the carrot family

Apiaceae Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus '' Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plan ...

, with the sole species ''Crithmum maritimum'', known as rock samphire, sea fennel or samphire. The name "

samphire Samphire is a name given to a number of succulent salt-tolerant plants ( halophytes) that tend to be associated with water bodies. *Rock samphire, ''Crithmum maritimum'' is a coastal species with white flowers that grows in Ireland, the Uni ...

" is also used for several other unrelated succulent halophyte species of coastal plant. Sea fennel, or Rock samphire, is an edible wild

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...

. It is found on coastlines throughout much of Europe (north to the British Isles),

Macaronesia Macaronesia (Portuguese: ''Macaronésia,'' Spanish: ''Macaronesia'') is a collection of four volcanic archipelagos in the North Atlantic, off the coasts of Africa and Europe. Each archipelago is made up of a number of Atlantic oceanic islands ...

, parts of West Asia and North Africa in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts.

History, trade and cultivation

In the 17th century,

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

in ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane ...

'' referred to the dangerous practice of collecting rock samphire from cliffs. ''"Half-way down, Hangs one that gathers samphire; dreadful trade!"'' In the 19th century, samphire was being shipped in

cask A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, u ...

s of

seawater Seawater, or salt water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has appr ...

from the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

to market in London at the end of May each year. Rock samphire used to be cried in London streets as "Crest Marine". In England, rock samphire is cultivated in

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

s, where it grows readily in a light, rich

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debri ...

. In the United Kingdom the uprooting of wild plants is illegal under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. The reclaimed piece of land adjoining Dover, called

Samphire Hoe Samphire Hoe is a country park situated west of Dover in Kent in southeast England. The park was created by using 4.9 million cubic metres of chalk marl from the Channel Tunnel excavations and is found at the bottom of a section of the White Cl ...

, is named after rock samphire. The land was created from spoil from the Channel Tunnel, and rock samphire used to be harvested from the neighbouring cliffs.

Culinary use

Rock samphire or sea fennel has fleshy, divided

aromatic In chemistry, aromaticity is a chemical property of cyclic ( ring-shaped), ''typically'' planar (flat) molecular structures with pi bonds in resonance (those containing delocalized electrons) that gives increased stability compared to satur ...

leaves that Culpeper described as having a ''"pleasant, hot and spicy taste"'' The stems, leaves and seed pods may be pickled in hot, salted, spiced

vinegar Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to eth ...

, or the leaves used fresh in

salad A salad is a dish consisting of mixed, mostly natural ingredients with at least one raw ingredient. They are typically served at room temperature or chilled, though some can be served warm. Condiments and salad dressings, which exist in a va ...

s. Sea fennel pickle in olive oil or

is a traditional food of Italy ( Marche region), Croatia ( Dalmatia), Greece, and Montenegro (

Bay of Kotor The Bay of Kotor ( Montenegrin and Serbian: , Italian: ), also known as the Boka, is a winding bay of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Montenegro and the region of Montenegro concentrated around the bay. It is also the southernmost part of the hi ...

). It is known a
Paccasassi del Conero
and used as an antipasto, to accompany fish and meat dishes and to garnish pizza and sandwiches. Richard Mabey gives several recipes for rock samphire, although it is possible that at least one of these may refer to marsh samphire or glasswort (''Salicornia europaea''), a very common confusion.

Properties

Sea fennel has nutritional value, and is rich in antioxidants.Antioxidant activity and phenol content of Crithmum maritimum
L. leaves Laetitia Meot-Duros et al. Plant Physiol Biochem. 2009 Jan. via Pubmed, accessed 16 October 2022

References

External links

BBC

Gardeners' Question Time ''Gardeners' Question Time'' is a long-running BBC Radio 4 programme in which amateur gardeners can put questions to a panel of experts. History The first programme was broadcast in the North and Northern Ireland Home Service of the BBC at 2 ...

– where there is apparently some confusion between the

glasswort The glassworts are various succulent, annual halophytic plants, that is, plants that thrive in saline environments, such as seacoasts and salt marshes. The original English glasswort plants belong to the genus ''Salicornia'', but today the glass ...

(marsh samphire, found in Suffolk) and the rock samphire (found in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

).
Biff Vernon
discusses the common confusion between marsh samphire and rock samphire, and reproduces a poem on the subject by William Logan.
Botanical.comRinci.itPubMed.govPubMed.gov
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q14566672, from2=Q1136311 Edible Apiaceae Leaf vegetables Stem vegetables Halophytes Flora of Europe Flora of Asia Flora of North Africa Flora of Macaronesia Monotypic Apiaceae genera Apioideae