SWEET CICELY.
Sweet-scented Chervil. Osmorrhiza odorata. Scandix odorata.
A hardy perennial. When fully grown, the stalk is three feet or more in height; the leaves are large, and many times divided; the stems and nerves downy; the flowers are white, fragrant, and terminate the stalks in flat, spreading bunches, or umbels; the seeds are large, brown, and retain their vitality but one year.
Sowing and Culture.—It is usually grown from seeds; and is of easy cultivation, as it thrives in almost any soil or situation. When allowed to scatter its seeds after ripening in the autumn, the plants will spring up spontaneously in great numbers in the following April or May, and may then be transplanted where they are to remain; or the seed may be sown in October, in beds, making the rows fifteen or eighteen inches apart, and thinning the plants to a foot apart in the rows. When practicable, the seed should be sown in the autumn; as it seldom vegetates well, unless subjected to the action of the winter. After the plants have become established, they will require only ordinary treatment, and yield abundantly.
Use.—"In England, the leaves were formerly put into salads; but the strong flavor of aniseed, which the whole plant possesses, renders them disagreeable to most persons. It is now not cultivated in Britain; but the leaves and roots are still used in France: the former for the same purposes as those of Chervil; the latter in soups, to which they are said to communicate an agreeable taste."—Thomp.
In this country, it is sometimes cultivated with other aromatic plants; but its use in soups, or as a seasoner or garnish, is very limited.