Additional notes (click to expand)

Horticulture

Only one Diptera miner, the tephritid Euleia heraclei, is recorded on Levisticum in Britain. Time of year - mines: April, June-August, October-November. Time of year - adults: May-August.
Pitkin B., Ellis W., Plant C., Edmunds R. The Leaf & Stem Mines of British Flies & Other Insects www.ukflymines.co.uk

Medicinal

Traditional Herbal Medicine Registration (THMR).

Culpeper: under ‘Herbs’ he writes: ‘Livisticum. Lovage. Clears the sight, takes away redness and freckles from the face.’ Under ‘Roots’: ‘Levistici. Of Lovage. ... exceeding good for any diseases coming of wind.’
Culpeper, Nicholas. (1650). A Physical Directory . London, Peter Cole.

Other use

Notes: Used to be eaten ,like celery, in the middle ages or candied in the same manner as Angelica. It can be used as a tea, but the summer cordial called ‘Lovage’ is not prepared from this plant.
Oakeley, Dr. H. F. . (2013). The Gardens of the Pharmacopoeia Londinensis. link

Toxicity

Contains 8-methoxy-psoralen, a furocoumarin, which is genotoxic and possibly carcinogenic. Produced adenomas and adenocrciomas of the kidney, and adenocarcinomas of the Zymbal gland.
van den Berg, S.J.P.L., Restani, et al., P.. (2011). Levels of Genotoxic and Carcinogenic Compounds in Plant Food Supplements and Associated Risk Assessment. Food and Nutrition Science 2: 989-1010. link

May cause skin allergies.
Professor Anthony Dayan, 2022

Geographical distribution

  • Asia-Temperate, Western Asia, Afghanistan
  • Asia-Temperate, Western Asia, Iran

Levisticum officinale W. D. J. Koch

Family: APIACEAE
Genus: Levisticum
Species: officinale W. D. J. Koch
Common names: Lovage; Bladderseed
Pharmacopoeia Londinensis name: Levisticum
Distribution summary: Western Asia
Habit: Perennial
Hardiness: H4 - Hardy; average winter
Habitat: Scrub and waste land
Garden status: Currently grown
Garden location: Europe & Middle East (J), Pharmacopoeia Londinensis 1618 'Seeds & Grains' (HSE 7)
Flowering months: July, August
Reason for growing: Medicinal, other use, traditional herbal registration


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