Alexanders (with visiting yellow dung flies)

This morning the sun was shining but the temperature was several degrees below freezing as I walked into the centre of Norwich. I passed a group of Alexanders plants on a street corner, doubled up in the cold like a group of grumpy teenagers. They were far from home, both in space and time, and were not enjoying the sudden cold snap.

Alexanders, Smyrnium olusatrum, is a biennial from warmer Mediterranean climes and was probably introduced by the Romans. It is found near the seaside but also inland and I think it is on the increase in Norwich. It is edible and is in leaf throughout the winter. It normally flowers in April and early May in East Anglia but the mild weather earlier this winter encouraged the plants to produce their flowering shoots by the end of January.

Alexanders, just inland from Cley-next-the-Sea

Alexanders was formerly known as ‘Petroselinum alexandrinum‘ (Parsley of Alexandria). It often occurs on the site of medieval abbeys and monasteries, where it was used as a vegetable. John Wright – in his “Edible Seashore” book (River Cottage Handbook No. 5, Bloomsbury 2009) – suggests that it may have been used to feed horses as well, since it provides excellent fodder when not much else is available.

Most parts of the plant can be eaten but Alexanders has been replaced by Celery in the modern diet. I find the flowers a bit too pungent for my taste but the young flower buds were sometimes pickled like miniature cauliflowers, according to Richard Mabey in “Flora Britannica” (Sinclair – Stevenson, 1996). The roots are apparently sweet and aromatic, though it’s illegal to uproot wild flowers unless the landowner gives permission, so I have never tried them. The leaves can be used in stocks to give a robust flavour rather like angelica. But it is the young stems that I think are best. They can be boiled or steamed for 5 – 10 minutes, and served as a side vegetable. I will definitely eat the stems again and I’m tempted by recipes such as Grilled squid with sweet and sour alexanders, Cured pork neck with pickled alexanders or Battered Alexanders. I have yet to taste the seeds, but they can be used as a spice. Alexanders Vodka (which I mentioned in my post on Sweet Cicely) is delicious.

Yellow Dung Flies … not on Alexanders

In some parts of Norfolk and Suffolk, such as just inland from Cley-next-the-Sea, Alexanders dominates the hedgerows in spring. The smell from its flowers is heady but not entirely pleasant to the human nose but very attractive to many insects, such as hordes of the Yellow Dung Fly, Scathophaga stercoraria, a rather engaging insect in spite of its chosen egg laying site.  My wife, Vanna, painted Alexanders several years ago and picked a single stem to draw and then paint in watercolour. It was rapidly banished to the greenhouse as the smell was too strong indoors.

Smyrnium means “myrrh” and olusatrum means “black herb” (after the roots and seeds). The name Alexanders may either come from Alexander The Great or Alexandria or could merely be a phonetic corruption of “olusatrum”.

Update 26th April 2014: I’ve just written about a close relative of Alexanders in my blog post Smyrnium perfoliatum, Perfoliate Alexanders – a lovely relative of Alexanders.