I purchased these plants as Coriander, they taste like coriander, they look like coriander, but then they flowered! This doesn't look anything like the flowers in the Plant Files entry for Coriander - does anyone know what I have growing in my herb garden?
since coriander http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Cori_sat.html?style=&query=angelica and parsley http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Petr_cri.html?style=&query=angelica are in the same family Apiaceae = Umbelliferae , http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/spice_bot.html?style=&query=angelica#Apiaceae
i believe u have is parsley.
No It's not any variety of parsley, the fresh leaves have the spice tang common to coriander. I actually have three flat leaf Italian parsley plants in the same garden bed - the "coriander" has gone to seed, and the parsley has not done so, even though they were all planted at the same time.
in the photo u have, shows only the flowering part. the leaves or whole plant can help to identify this mystery cilantro u have.
as far as my taste bud can ascertain, there are other herbs that has the distinct cilantro flavor like are also prominent in the following herbs: culantro or Thai coriander http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Eryn_foe.html?style=&query=angelica , Kintsai or Chinese celery http://www.kitazawaseed.com/seed_067-152.html , Papalo http://www.freshcutherbs.com/herbofthemonthpapalo.htm another Mexican cilantro flavored herb, Parcel http://www.herbherbert.com/pdf/parcel.pdf is another one, Quilquina http://home.budget.net/~herbseed/Quilquina.htm is Bolivia's version of cilantro, Rau Ram or Vietnamese Coriander http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/polodoratum.htm and the list goes on and on.
if u can post photo of the leaves or whole plant u have, hopefully someone can help solve ur unidentified herb.
as far as similarity to the flower shape and form Asafetida would resemble ur photo http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Feru_ass.html?style=&query=angelica , flavor wise, i do not know cuz i have not used asafetida in my cooking. i know people from India uses them a lot in their cooking. Lovage is also similar in flower form from ur photo http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Levi_off.html?style=&query=angelica as i have said the list can go on bc the apiaceae family has a long list within its family.
sure, I can post the leaves & whole plant, But not until next Wednesday `cause I'm away from home in the daytime until Tuesday. As far as I can remember the leaves look just like the ones shown in the link you gave me above for the regular coriander plant - in other words just like Italian (flat) parsley leaves except smaller, lighter green and softer textured
in all probability, it seem like it is similar to Kintsai or Chinese celery. pls. click on the link of these mentioned plants bc they do have the cilantro flavor. the only problem would be the color of the flower as opposed to the photo u have above. Kintsai do have white flowers if memory serves me right. Lovage has the yellow flowers like u have but Lovage has the scent and flavor of celery. both Kintsai and Lovage do have the flat leaves like Italian Parsley. difference is... the leaves has lighter shade of green in color.
take ur time, no one is in a hurry. we are merely trying to solve the mystery coriander u've got.
hopefully, someone will chime in and give us a helping hand.
I found a picture of chinese celery on line and it's not that. LIke you I thought it was a parsley of some sort. In fact I'm pretty sure it is a relative. The trouble with IDing it is two fold: the flavour of the leaves, and the fact that the plants went to seed so quickly. I can't remember when they were planted exactly but I'm sure they are less than 6 months old and that doesn't fit any parsley I know. Here are a few more pictures for you to look at anyway.
These are the leaves lower down on the plant
These are the upper leaves and the flower stems
i have grown Italian Parsley, Cilantro and Kintsai. each has it's distinct characteristics as i recall.
i do not know about u, but i still say what u have is Kintsai or Chinese celery. i use that in making stock and stir fried noodles.
herb books i have at hand and research online make me believe that it is indeed Kintsai, but that is just me. for u sake, i hope someone chimes along and help u, i have exhausted all the avenue available to me. sorry.
ma vie
Thanks for trying to help MaVie, The photos I have seen of Kintsai show a plant that looks very much like regular celery only with much thinner stems, but still in the standard celery "bunch" shape of a group of tall stalks held upright and close together. These plants were a flat rosette on the ground for about four months and then next thing, bang, up they shot! I have been tasting the leaves every few weeks and they now have a faint parsley tang under the overall "coriandery" spice taste. Maybe the plants are just abnormal because they have gone to seed in their first year, instead of going the normal biennial route of leaves in years one and flowers in year two. We HAVE had some odd weather in the last year. Spring came very early it seems and it has been even dryer than usual All of my spring flowering bulbs are already going dormant and being dug, and I usually don't have to do that until after Christmas. Also, my False Queen Anne's Lace plants went straight to seed in the seedling pots I started them in! They were only planted in May, and they are already nearly finished and much stunted as a consequence - I didn't even get a chance to set them out in the garden.
Anyway, thanks again for trying to help. If they set seed, I will keep some and regrow it to see what I get the second time around - if I can get them to do the "Celery" shaped thing next time, that should confirm the ID. TTFN, Kaelkitty.
