Additional notes (click to expand)

Medicinal

An extract made by boiling the berries of the bay tree and flowers of dill marinated in olive oil could be rubbed on to ‘lessen weariness’. Dioscorides’ Materia Medica (circa 80 CE)
DeSwiet, Michael. (2012). Plants and the Olympic Games. link

Culpeper: ‘Anethum. Dill ... Dioscorides says it breeds milk in nurses, but Galen he denies it, however it stays vomiting, easeth hiccoughs, assuages swellings, provokes urine, helps such as are troubled with the fits of the mother, and digest raw humours.’ ‘Dill seed ... dulls the sight and is an enemy to generation.’
Culpeper, Nicholas. (1650). A Physical Directory . London, Peter Cole.

For flatulent colic (1836)
Stephenson, J. & Chrchill, JM (1836) Medical Botany . London, John Churchill

Medicinal uses Uses supported by clinical data None. Uses described in pharmacopoeias and well established documents Treatment of dyspepsia (25), gastritis and fl atulence (1, 26), and stomach ache (27). Uses described in traditional medicine As an aphrodisiac, analgesic, antipyretic, diuretic, emmenagogue, galactagogue, appetite stimulant and vaginal contraceptive. Treatment of diarrhoea, asthma, neuralgia, dysuria, dysmenorrhoea, gallbladder disease, insomnia, hiatus hernia and kidney stones (9, 26–29). Contraindications Traditionally, extracts of fruits (seeds) have been used as a contraceptive and to induce labour (4). Furthermore, extracts of the fruits may have teratogenic effects (39). Therefore, the use of Fructus Anethi during pregnancy and nursing is not recommended.
WHO Monographs on Selected Medicinal Plants. Vol. 3, 2007

Nomenclature

OTHER COMMON NAMES: ANET;DILL-OIL PLANT;EAST INDIAN DILL;MEETING-SEED;SABBATH DAY POSY
The Royal Horticultural Society Horticultural Database, available at www.rhs.org.uk

Toxicity

Notes: Contact with the leaves may bring on dermatitis, so care must be taken when handling these plants.
Oakeley, Dr. H. F. . (2013). The Gardens of the Pharmacopoeia Londinensis. link

Geographical distribution

  • Asia-Temperate

Anethum graveolens L.

Family: APIACEAE
Genus: Anethum
Species: graveolens L.
Common names: Dill
Pharmacopoeia Londinensis name: Anethum
Distribution summary: Widely cultivated
Habit: Annual
Hardiness: H3 - Half hardy; unheated greenhouse/mild winter
Habitat: Roadsides, wasteland & cultivated land
Garden status: Currently grown
Garden location: Pharmacopoeia Londinensis 1618 'Seeds & Grains' (HSE 8), Olive tree bed (O), Arid zones (Q)
Flowering months: April, May, June, July
Reason for growing: Medicinal, other use


Back to List