Description
''Ligusticum scoticum'' is a
herbaceous
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials.
Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous"
The fourth edition o ...
perennial plant which typically grows tall. It has triangular, twice-
ternate leaves, long, with each lobe long. The edges of the leaves may be toothed, lobed or serrated, and are typically either a paler green or magenta. The
stem branches infrequently, and bears 2–5
inflorescences, each of which is a compound
umbel in diameter. There are typically 8–12 rays in both the primary and secondary umbels. Each individual flower is around in diameter and greenish-white in colour The
fruit are long, with five prominent ridges on each
carpel
Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils' ...
.
''Ligusticum scoticum'' tastes and smells like
parsley or
celery
Celery (''Apium graveolens'') is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since antiquity. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves. Depending on location and cultivar, either its stalks, le ...
.
Distribution
''Ligusticum scoticum'' is primarily an
Arctic
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...
plant, with a
disjunct range extending from
northern Norway to the more northerly shores of the
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
, and from western
Greenland to
New England. A related species, ''
Ligusticum hultenii
''Ligusticum'' (lovage, licorice root) is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Its name is believed to derive from the Italian region of Liguria.Hu ...
'', which was described by
Merritt Lyndon Fernald
Merritt Lyndon Fernald (October 5, 1873 – September 22, 1950) was an American botanist. He was a respected scholar of the taxonomy and phytogeography of the vascular plant flora of temperate eastern North America. During his career, Fernald pub ...
in 1930 and may be better treated as a
subspecies of ''L. scoticum'', occurs around the northern Pacific Ocean, from
Japan to
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
.
The southernmost occurrence of ''L. scoticum'' is at
Ballyhalbert
Ballyhalbert (formerly known as Talbotston and Halbertston) is a small village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the east (Irish Sea) coast of the Ards Peninsula between Ballywalter and Portavogie. It is largely residentia ...
in
Northern Ireland.
Ecology
Within the British Isles, ''Ligusticum scoticum'' is only found on coasts where the mean July
temperature is below , and this bound is likely also to apply in other parts of the species' range. Towards the southern end of its range, the plant performs poorly on south-facing sites. It grows in fissures in rocks, where it may be the only vascular plant, and also in cliff-top grassland communities dominated by ''
Festuca rubra
''Festuca rubra'' is a species of grass known by the common name red fescue or creeping red fescue. It is widespread across much of the Northern Hemisphere and can tolerate many habitats and climates. It is best adapted to well-drained soils in c ...
'' and ''
Plantago maritima
''Plantago maritima'', the sea plantain, seaside plantain or goose tongue, is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae. It has a subcosmopolitan distribution in temperate and Arctic regions, native to most of Europe, n ...
''.
''Ligusticum scoticum'' cannot tolerate
grazing, and is harmed by the actions of nesting
seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same envir ...
s; it is therefore rarely found on bird cliffs, or where grazing sheep and rabbits are found. It is, however, tolerant of
salt spray
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantiti ...
, and its growth has been shown to improve when given dilute
sea water. The leaves of ''L. scoticum'' are frost-tolerant, and die back each winter, but regrow very rapidly the following spring. In the British Isles,
flowering
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...
occurs from June to August, and the seeds are ripe in October or November; the timing is expected to be later at higher latitudes. The flowers of ''L. scoticum'' are visited by generalist
pollinators, mostly
flies
Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...
.
Taxonomy
''Ligusticum scoticum'' was first described by
Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 work '.
Linnaeus originally used the
epithet ', and this is used by many authors in North America; in Europe, the amended spelling ' is used.
Uses
The plant was formerly widely eaten in western Britain, both for nutrition and to combat
scurvy.
The leaves and stalks are edible before the flowers appear, and contain
vitamin A and
C.
They can be consumed raw or cooked like celery. Additionally, the young shoots can be candied.
References
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3257294
scoticum
Flora of Northern Europe
Flora of Subarctic America
Flora of Eastern Canada
Flora of the Northeastern United States
Edible Apiaceae
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
Flora of Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Flora of Greenland