Crithmum is a monospecific genus of flowering plants in the carrot family, Apiaceae. It currently consists of just one species, Crithmum maritimum, but when originally published by Linnaeus (in Species Plantarum vol. 1, p. 246) he included two species. The other, listed as C. pyrenaicum is now called Libanotis pyrenaica or Seseli libanotis.
Modern accounts usually separate rock samphire into a separate genus. It is distinguished from Seseli (Libanotis) by the yellow (not white) flowers and from Silaum by its fleshy leaves and four (not 0-3) bracts.
The name Crithmum pre-dates Linnaeus. It derives from the Ancient Greek word κριθή (krithe), which originally meant "barley", and was used by Dioscorides as the name of a plant ("krithmon") which he described as "a shrubby little herb about a foot in height, with thick leaves, which grows in rocky maritime places..."
Although crithmon may have been the name for rock samphire in Roman times, modern botany uses binomials, so it is known as Crithmum maritimum (which can be abbreviated to C. maritimum) rather than simply Crithmum when writing about the individual species.
Rock samphire, Crithmum maritimum Crithmum maritimum, commonly known as rock samphire, sea fennel or samphire, is found in parts of the Old World and is edible.
Description Rock samphire is a perennial herbaceous plant growing to about 30 cm tall with a sprawling growth habit. It has a long yellowish taproot which smells of carrot, and usually several stems arising from the base. Each stem is up to about 50 cm long, typically decumbent (lying flat but turning up towards the tip), greyish-green in colour and sometimes branched. The whole plant is quite glabrous (hairless) and succulent (fleshy), although the base of the stems become woody in the summer.
The leaves are arranged alternately along the stems. An individual leaf is up to 15 cm long by about 11 cm wide, and deeply divided into narrow, succulent segments in a twice- or thrice-pinnate structure. The individual segments are almost tubular with a flattened pointed tip. The leaf has a long petiole which clasps the stem. The foliage smells of furniture polish and tastes hot and peppery.
The inflorescences arise from the leaf axils, with long (up to 5 cm) peduncles, and consist of compound umbels with 8-36 rays. All the flowers are monoecious (bisexual). The fruits (seed pods) are yellow or purple and up to 5-6 mm.
Distribution and status Rock samphire is found on coastlines throughout much of Europe (north to the British Isles), Macaronesia, parts of West Asia and North Africa in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts.
Habitat and ecology Rock samphire grows in crevices on cliffs, along rocky shorelines, on shingle and sometimes on sandy beaches.
Cultivation In Britain, rock samphire is cultivated in gardens, where it grows readily in a light, rich soil. In the United Kingdom the uprooting of wild plants is illegal under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.
Uses Rock samphire or sea fennel has fleshy, divided aromatic leaves that Culpeper described as having a "pleasant, hot and spicy taste". The plant can be prepared much like marsh samphire (Salicornia europaea); the stems and leaves should be washed and cooked, while the stems, leaves and young seed pods can be pickled, perhaps in salted and spiced vinegar. The fresh leaves may be used in salads. Dried and ground sea fennel can also be used as a salt substitute.
Sea fennel pickle in olive oil or vinegar is a traditional food of Italy (Marche region), Croatia (Dalmatia), Greece, and Montenegro (Bay of Kotor). It is known as Paccasassi del Conero and used as an antipasto, to accompany fish and meat dishes and to garnish pizza and sandwiches.
Nutrition Sea fennel has nutritional value, and is rich in antioxidants.
In culture In the 17th century, Shakespeare in King Lear referred to the dangerous practice of collecting rock samphire from cliffs. Act IV, scene VI, lines 14b-15. "Half-way down, Hangs one that gathers samphire; dreadful trade!" In the 19th century, samphire was shipped in casks of seawater from the Isle of Wight to market in London at the end of May each year. Rock samphire used to be cried in London streets as "Crest Marine".
The reclaimed piece of land adjoining Dover, formed from spoil from the Channel Tunnel and called "Samphire Hoe", is named after rock samphire: people formerly harvested rock samphire from the neighbouring cliffs."The name of Samphire Hoe comes from the rock samphire wild plant which was once collected from the cliffs and served as a side dish and was inspired by a passage from Shakespeare's King Lear."
References
External links BBC Gardeners' Question Time – where there is apparently some confusion between the glasswort (marsh samphire, found in Suffolk) and the rock samphire (found in Dorset). Biff Vernon discusses the common confusion between marsh samphire and rock samphire, and reproduces a poem on the subject by William Logan. Botanical.com Antioxidant activity and phenol content of Crithmum maritimum L. leaves Nutritional and antioxidant properties of wild edible plants and their use as potential ingredients in the modern diet