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Levisticum officinale

Common name:	Lovage	Family:	Umbelliferae
Author:	W.D.J.Koch.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	Lovage is said to contain the alleged 'psychotroph' myristicine[218].
Range:	Europe. Occasionally naturalized in Britain.
Habitat:	Arable land and waste places[9] in damp soils[7, 14]. Mountain pastures and hedgerows near streams[244].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	3

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Hipposelinum levisticum[B,P] L. paludapifolium[B,P] Ligusticum levisticum[H]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Garden Lovage [P,B], Lavas [D], Lovage [H,E], Lubstickel [E], Yabani Kereviz [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	officinale = sold as an herb
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Apiales. Renamed to Apiaceae -- Carrot family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Britain Germany Turkey

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 1.8m by 1m . It is hardy to zone 4 and is not frost tender. It is in leaf from March to November, in flower from July to August, and the seeds ripen from August to September. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. The plant is self-fertile. It is noted for attracting wildlife. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 3/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Cultivated Beds, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade.

Edible Uses

Condiment Flowers Leaves Root Seed Stem Tea.

Leaves and stems - raw or cooked[2, 4, 14, 21]. Used as a savoury flavouring in salads, soups, stews etc, imparting a yeasty/celery flavour[9, 52]. The leaves can be used fresh or dried and are available from late winter until late autumn. To ensure a good supply of the leaves in the summer, it is best to cut the plants down to the ground when flowering in the summer[K].
The young stem can be blanched and used like celery in salads or as a savoury flavouring in cooked foods[52, 183].
Seed - raw or cooked. A strong yeasty flavour, it is used as a flavouring in cakes, soups, salads etc[2, 21, 46, 200]. It can be used whole or ground into a powder.
Root - cooked. A strong savoury taste, it can be used as a flavouring[142] or cooked as a vegetable[200]. It is best grated[200]. Best used when 2 - 3 years old[142].
Flowers[183]. No more details are given.
A tea is made from the dried leaves. A strong savoury flavour, it tastes more like a broth[21, 183]. A tea can also be made from the grated roots[183].
An essential oil from the root is used commercially as a food flavouring[183, 238]. Yields of 0.5% are obtained[7].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antispasmodic Aromatic Carminative Diaphoretic Digestive Diuretic Emmenagogue Expectorant Skin Stimulant Stomachic.

Lovage is a warming and tonic herb for the digestive and respiratory systems. It is used primarily in the treatment of indigestion, poor appetite, wind, colic and bronchitis[254].
The roots, leaves and fruits are antispasmodic, aromatic, carminative, diaphoretic, digestive, diuretic, mildly expectorant and stimulant[4, 7, 21, 46, 165, 238]. They are used internally in the treatment of disordered stomachs, especially cases of colic and flatulence in children, kidney stones, cystitis, painful menstruation and slow labour[4, 238]. Externally, the root is used in the treatment of sore throats and aphthous ulcers[238]. The roots of plants 3 years old can be harvested in early spring or in the autumn and are used fresh or dried[9, 238]. The leaves are harvested before the plant comes into flower and either distilled for their oil or dried for later use[238].
The leaves, either eaten in salads or dried and infused as a tea, have been used as an emmenagogue[4].
The essential oil from the seeds is used by aromatherapists to remove freckles and spots from the face[244].

We have a more details factsheet on the history and medicinal use of this plant. Email webmaster@pfaf.org for details.

Other Uses

Essential.

An essential oil from the plant is used in perfumery[7, 238].

Cultivation details

An easily grown plant, it prefers a rich moist but well-drained soil in a sunny position[4, 52], though it tolerates some shade[14].
Lovage has very aromatic leaves. It is often grown in the herb garden as a culinary herb[7] and is occasionally grown commercially as a food flavouring[K]. If the plant is cut back to the ground during the growing season it will produce a new flush of young leaves[200]. If the weather is dry at this time, it will be necessary to water the plants in order to encourage fresh growth[K].
Lovage is a good companion plant, improving the health and flavour of other plants growing nearby[14, 20]. The flowers are very attractive to bees and also draw insect predators such as hoverflies into the garden[24].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring or early autumn in a cold frame. The seed can be slow to germinate so it is probably best sown as soon as it is ripe[K]. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and plant them out into their permanent positions in the summer.
Division in spring or autumn. This can be quite hard work due to the size of the roots but the plant grows away very well afterwards. Larger clumps can be replanted direct into their permanent positions, though it is best to pot up smaller clumps and grow them on in a cold frame until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the spring.

Scent

Leaves: Crushed: The leaves have a strong celery-like aroma.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A& M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for levisticum officinale (a possible synonym).

[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[7] Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald 1984 ISBN 0-356-10541-5
Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.

[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.

[14] Holtom. J. and Hylton. W. Complete Guide to Herbs. Rodale Press 1979 ISBN 0-87857-262-7
A good herbal.

[20] Riotte. L. Companion Planting for Successful Gardening. Garden Way, Vermont, USA. 1978 ISBN 0-88266-064-0
Fairly good.

[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.

[24] Baines. C. Making a Wildlife Garden.
Fairly good with lots of ideas about creating wildlife areas in the garden.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[52] Larkcom. J. Salads all the Year Round. Hamlyn 1980
A good and comprehensive guide to temperate salad plants, with full organic details of cultivation.

[142] Brouk. B. Plants Consumed by Man. Academic Press 1975 ISBN 0-12-136450-x
Readable but not very comprehensive.

[165] Mills. S. Y. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism.
An excellent small herbal.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[244] Phillips. R. & Foy. N. Herbs Pan Books Ltd. London. 1990 ISBN 0-330-30725-8
Deals with all types of herbs including medicinal, culinary, scented and dye plants. Excellent photographs with quite good information on each plant.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

[254] Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Dorling Kindersley. London 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148
An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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