Chervil

Scientific Names

Anthriscus cerefolium L.
Umbelliferae
Umbel family

Common Names

Cerefolium
Gourmet’s parsley
Mirrha
Mirrhis
Myrrhis
Sweet chervil
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Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Chervil is an annual plant; the round, finely grooved, branched stem grows 12-26 inches tall from a thin, whitish root. The leaves are opposite, light green, and bipinnate, the lower leaves petioled, the upper sessile on stem sheaths. The small, white flowers grow in compound umbels from May to July. The elongated, segmented seeds ripen in August and September.

The wild chervil grows 2-3 feet high with yellow stalks and joints, set with broader and more hairy leaves, divided into sundry parts, nicked about the edges and of a dark green color. Has little or no scent.
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Where Found

Cultivated in many places as a kitchen spice. In southern Europe it flourishes in the wild; a native of Asia.
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Medicinal Properties

Digestive, diuretic, expectorant, stimulant
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Legends, Myths and Stories

Chervil has a delicate, subtle flavor with a slight hint of anise, but the flavor does not withstand long cooking.

Pliny claimed the boiled roots were used as a preventive against plague.

In Europe, chervil soup is eaten on Holy Thursday as a symbol of resurrection and a new life. Because its scent reminds of the fragrance of myrrh (one of the offerings at the birth of Christ), it is often called myrrhis.

The Romans planted chervil near their encampments and still grows in the vicinity of these ancient sites.
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Uses

The juice that is pressed out of the flowers is used for scrofula, eczema, gout, abscesses, dropsy, and dysmenorrhea. The infusion of the plant is used in Europe to lower blood pressure. Helps indigestion, and is a blood thinner, as well as a diuretic and a tonic.

In the Middle Ages, the leaves were used to soothe the pain of rheumatism and bruises, swellings, as well as an anti-depressant; some still eat it today to cure the hiccups. Chervil is supposed to have great qualities of rejuvenation.
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Formulas or Dosages

Infusion: use 1 sp. fresh or dried herb with 1/2 cup water. Take 1/2 to 1 cup a day, unsweetened, a mouthful at a time.
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How Sold

Spice
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Warning

The Umbelliferae family (Umbel family) of chervil is also the family of the poisonous members of the family, like the Hemlock. Beginners find it difficult to distinguish true chervil from its more ill-disposed cousins. Care should be taken to correctly identify chervil.
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Bibliography

Culpeper's Complete Herbal & English Physician, by Nicholas Culpeper, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1990, (reprint of 1814)

Herbal Gardening, compiled by The Robison York State Herb Garden, Cornell Plantations, Matthaei Botanical Gardens of the University of Michigan, University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley., Pantheon Books, Knopf Publishing Group, New York, 1994, first edition

The Magic of Herbs, by David Conway, published by Jonathan Cape, Thirty Bedford Square, London, England. (Out of print)

The Nature Doctor, by Dr. H.C.A. Vogel; Keats Publishing, Inc., 27 Pine Street (Box 876) New Canaan, CT. 06840-0876. Copyright Verlag A. Vogel, Teufen (AR) Switzerland 1952, 1991

Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, New World Dictionaries: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023, 1984

The Rodale Herb Book, edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. Emmaus, PA, 18049., 1974