category: food/groceries: vegetables: stem vegetables

Fitweed, Wild coriander, Long coriander, Mexican coriander, Spiritweed, Sawtooth, Saw-leaf herb, bot.: Eryngium foetidum, de.: Stinkdistel fr.: Chardon étoilé, Panicaut fétide, Coriandre chinoise, Coriandre de Java, Coriandre du Mexique es.: Cilantro cimarron

Fitweed is a vegetable belonging to the group of leaf vegetables and the botanical family of Apiaceae. Depending on the country and area it is known under many different names, many relating to coriander because both plants are very similar in taste. The herbaceous annual and perennial plant is indigenous to the Amazon rainforest and other tropical forest areas of South and Middle America. It is cultivated around the year in Cuba, Liberia, Brasilia, Cambodia and Thailand. Only the long, serrated leafs are edible. They are usually used as an ingredient for hot soups und sauces. In Europe fitweed is only available in large Asian supermarkets. They are used as a vegetable spice and medicinal plant. Other edible plants in the same family are anise, dill, fennel, chervil, coriander, lovage or burnet.