Parsley

Contents:

Common Names | Parts Usually Used | Plant(s) & Culture | Where Found | Medicinal Properties | Biochemical Information
Legends, Myths and Stories | Uses | Formulas or Dosages | Nutrient Content | How Sold | Warning | Resource
Links | Bibliography

Scientific Names
o Petroselinum sativum L.
o Umbelliferae
o Umbel family
Common Names

Common parsley
Garden parsley
March
Parsley breakstone
Rock parsley
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Parts Usually Used

Fruits, berries, stems, leaves, and roots
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Description of Plant(s) and Culture

An erect, hairless perennial plant with a distinctive scent. It has shiny, pinnate leaves with
triangular-lobed leaflets, often curled in cultivated plants. The small yellowish flowers
grow in flat-topped, compound umbels, each with 8-15 smaller umbels. Fruits are egg-
shaped, ridged, somewhat flattened.

Other varieties: P. hortense; P. crispum; extra curled dwarf; neapolitanum; gigante;

tuberosum; decora.

The Chinese use the herb (Apium petroselinum) (Inn sai is the Chinese name) and call
it parsley. Seems it is used similarly to Petroselinum sativum L.

Some have categorized parsley as in the carrot family, some in the umbel family and yet
others say it has its own parsley family. Let the reader choose or if anyone has proof of
which is correct, please forward the information.
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Where Found
Cultivated and occasionally found growing wild in waste places or around buildings in
eastern and Pacific areas of the United States and Canada. Gathering of wild parsley is
not recommended.
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Medicinal Properties
Diuretic, carminative, anthelmintic, emmenagogue, expectorant, stimulant,
antispasmodic, aperient, laxative, carminative
Juice: febrifuge, promotes menstruation
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Biochemical Information
Apiin, apiol, bergaptein, calcium, fatty oil, flavone glycoside, furanocumarin bergapten,
iodine, iron, isoimperatorin, mucilage, myristicene, volatile and essential oils, parsley
camphor (apiin), petroselinic acid, phosphorus, pinene, potassium, and vitamins A and
C.
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Legends, Myths and Stories

Some references claim that parsley belongs to the carrot family. It is claimed, when the
parsley herb is rubbed against a glass goblet or tumbler, it will break it. The cause of this
phenomenon is unknown. Rose bushes like for parsley to be grown near them, because
they keep away rose beetles.

Parsley is native to the Mediterranean region of Southern Europe and has been
cultivated for more than 2,000 years. It was originally used as a medicinal plant (see
below) prior to being consumed as a food. Ancient Greeks held parsley to be sacred,
using it to not only adorn victors of athletic contests, but also for decorating the tombs of
the deceased. While it is uncertain when and where parsley began to be consumed as a
seasoning, historians think it may be sometime during the Middle Ages in Europe. Some
historians credit Charlemagne with its popularization as he had it grown on his estates.
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Uses
A sweet plant that contains a substance in which tumor cells cannot multiply. Good for
goiter, obesity, edema, dropsy, swollen glands, epilepsy, bed-wetting, fluid retention,
rheumatism, sciatica, lumbago, jaundice, indigestion, asthma, coughs, colds, fever, gas,
night blindness, swollen breasts, menstrual disorders, promotes onset of menses,
snakebites, bruises, dropsy, eye infections, and worms. For thyroid, lung, stomach,
bladder, gall stones, kidney stones, liver, and can be used to treat gravel and stones of
the kidney. It also makes a good eyewash. It purifies the breath as well. The oil of parsley
rubbed on the scalp is purportedly able to stimulate hair growth.
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Formulas or Dosages
A tisane of dried herb is made when fresh is not available.
Eat raw or steep chopped leaves and stems in hot water. Drink 1 cup daily.
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Nutrient Content
Calcium, fatty oil, iodine, iron, phosphorus, rich in potassium, and rich in vitamins A and
C. Rich in vitamins and minerals. Good source of chlorophyll. (Try it after eating onions or
garlic)
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How Sold
Parsley tablets or fresh cut herb
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Warning
Do not use parsley if a kidney infection is present.

Do not take parsley juice or oil if pregnant, it is a uterine stimulant.

Best grown in the garden rather than gathered wild, since it resembles poisonous wild
plants like Poison Hemlock.