Cicely (Myrrhis odorata [L.] Scop.)

Leaves, mostly used fresh. The unripe fruits are a good sub­stitute for anise.

Api­aceae (parsley family)

Strong fra­grance, remi­niscent of licorice or anise, sweet taste (particu­larly, the stem). Both fragrance and taste are strongest in the unripe seeds. See also licorice for sweet spices.

Fruits and leaves of several aromatic plants from the parsley family share their fragrance, which might loosely be called anise-like. This impression is strongest in cicely, but anise as the best known example is only slightly weaker. On the other hand, the fragrance of fennel is slightly less pure. Chervil combines anise fragrance with parsley-like freshness. Remotely similar to anise is dill, whose aroma is nearer to caraway.

Spices with anise flavour are also known from other plant families. The best-known examples are star anise and licorice, furthermore some Thai basil varieties, tarragon and Mexican tarragon. More obscure spices that can be named in this context are Mexican pepper-leaves and some relatives of Sichuan pepper.

Cicely leaves contain an essential oil (0.05%), which is rich in the phenylpropanoids anethole (85%) and methyl chavicol.

The plant is of Western European origin. It is a common garden plant in parts of Western Europe, mainly Scandi­navia.

English cicely goes back to the obscure Greek plant name seselis [σέσελις], which was apparently used as a collective term for a number of umbelli­ferous herbs including modern genera Seseli, Tordylium and Bupleurum. German Süßdolde sweet umbel refers to both the sweet taste and the umbel-shaped flower cluster.

The botanical genus name Myrrhis derives from Greek myrrhis [μυρρίς], which denotes both an unidentified plant and an aromatic oil from Western Asia; it is probably related to Greek myron [μύρον] balm (see also nutmeg). The scientific species name odoratus is Latin meaning scented.

Comparisons with chervil suggest themselves (e. g., German Myrrhenkerbel myrrh-chervil). Another common motive is Spanish chervil found in many languages of Western Europe, particularly Scandinavia, e. g., Italian cerfoglio di Spagna and Danish Spansk kørvel; this refers to the suspected Western Mediterranean origin of the plant. Some variation includes Dutch Roomse kervel Roman chervil and quite curiously Finnish saksankirveli German chervil.

Nature One Health: Sweet Cicely chemikalienlexikon.de: Anethol