Rock samphire

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For other uses of the name samphire, see Samphire

Rock samphire

Kingdom:	Plantae
Phylum:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Apiales
Family:	Apiaceae
Genus:	Crithmum
Species:	C. maritimum

Binomial name

Crithmum maritimum
L.

Samphire, or rock samphire (Crithmum maritimum), the sole species of the genus Crithmum, is an edible wild plant found in coastal regions of mainland Great Britain. The term samphire is used for several unrelated species of coastal plant.

In King Lear, Shakespeare refers to the dangerous practice of collecting rock samphire from cliffs. "Half-way down, Hangs one that gathers samphire; dreadful trade!"

[edit] Culinary Use

Rock samphire has fleshy, divided aromatic leaves that have been described by Culpeper as having a "pleasant,hot and spicy taste". According to Roger Phillips in "Wild Food" Rock Samphire was cultivated in English gardens,and used to be cried in London streets as "Crest Marine". Grigson ("The Englishman's Flora") writes that in the 19th Century samphire was being shipped in casks of sea-water to market in London from the Isle of Wight at the end of May each year. The stems,leaves and seed pods may be pickled in hot,salted.spiced vinegar,or the leaves used fresh in salads. Richard Mabey in "Food for Free" gives several recipes for samphire,although it is possible that at least one of these may refer to Marsh samphire (salicornia europaea),a very common confusion. Samphire grows readily in the garden in a light,rich soil,but obtaining seed commercially will be very difficult,and the removal of wild plants is illegal under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

[edit] Sources

Geoffrey Grigson "The Englishman's Flora" Phoenix House 1958

Nicholas Culpeper "Culpeper's Herbal",London 1653

"Food for Free" Richard Mabey Collins,1972 http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/shrimpandsamphireris_3208.shtml

BBC Gardener's Question Time - where there is apparently some confusion between the glasswort (marsh samphire, found in Suffolk) and the rock samphire (found in Dorset).
Biff Vernon discusses the common confusion between marsh samphire and rock samphire, and reproduces a poem on the subject by William Logan.
Botanical.com
Riverhouse