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''Ligusticum scoticum'', known as Scots lovage, or Scottish licorice-root, is a
perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
flowering plant in the
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 ...
family
Apiaceae Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus '' Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plant ...
(previously Umbelliferae) found near the coasts of northern Europe and north-eastern North America. It grows up to tall and is found in rock crevices and cliff-top grassland. It is closely related to, and possibly conspecific with, ''
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 ...
'' from the coast of the northern Pacific Ocean. The plant is edible and contains the compound
sotolon Sotolon (also known as sotolone) is a lactone and an extremely powerful aroma compound, with the typical smell of fenugreek or curry at high concentrations and maple syrup, caramel, or burnt sugar at lower concentrations. Sotolon is the major arom ...
, which is also present in
fenugreek Fenugreek (; ''Trigonella foenum-graecum'') is an annual plant in the family Fabaceae, with leaves consisting of three small obovate to oblong leaflets. It is cultivated worldwide as a semiarid crop. Its seeds and leaves are common ingredients ...
. The leaves have a flavour similar to parsley or celery, while the seeds taste similar to
fenugreek Fenugreek (; ''Trigonella foenum-graecum'') is an annual plant in the family Fabaceae, with leaves consisting of three small obovate to oblong leaflets. It is cultivated worldwide as a semiarid crop. Its seeds and leaves are common ingredients ...
or
cumin Cumin ( or , or Article title
) (''Cuminum cyminum'') is a


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