An herb is a plant whose leaves, seeds, or flowers are used for flavoring food or in medicine. Other uses of herbs include cosmetics, dyes, and perfumes. The name derives from the Latin word herba, meaning “green crops.”

Lovage, Levisticum officinale, is a perennial herb that looks like parsley and is in the parsley, or Apiaceae, family, like anise, dill, caraway, cumin, and fennel. Lovage is native to mountainous areas of southern Europe and Asia Minor. It is sometimes called sea parsley.

History. Lovage is one of the herbs mentioned by the Emperor Charlemagne as deserving to be grown in every imperial garden. Lovage was also grown in Benedictine monastery gardens.

Description. Lovage can reach a height of three to six feet (.9–1.8 m) high, but it takes three years to reach its full size. It sends up a flower stalk in early to mid summer, and the flowers are small and yellow.

Gardening. Lovage prefers good soil and plenty of sunlight. To grow lovage, you can either buy plants or plant seeds. If you plant seeds, you can start them indoors and then transplant them.

Once established, lovage can be propagated by division. Make sure that it has sufficient room to spread, as it grows wide, as well as tall, and puts out an extensive root system. To produce more leaves, the flower stalk should be cut back.

Dry lovage leaves slowly and store them in an airtight container. Harvest the seeds after they have turned brown. These, too, should be dried. Fresh lovage leaves can be stored in plastic in the refrigerator crisper or hydrator for four or five days.

Food and Other Use. Lovage is similar to celery in both flavor and appearance, but taller and stronger in taste. The roots, stem, leaves, and flowers all edible. Typically, the young leaves are used in salad, and some consider lovage a good addition to dishes with strongly flavored fish or seafood.

Older leaves can be used in soup or stew and cooked slowly. The seeds are used as a garnish and in pickles. In some Italian recipes, lovage is used as a flavoring in bread and biscuits. Dried lovage leaves are used as a flavoring and in preparing herbal tisanes.

Because some people who are not accustomed to eating lovage have reported a strong reaction to an initial use of a large quantity, you may wish to introduce it to your diet slowly. Lovage is also used in some bath and deodorant preparations. Because the stems are hollow, they may also be dried and used as drinking straws.