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  • SEED SAVING
    • OUR SEED SAVERS >
      • Alice Le Brun
      • Alison Macdonald
      • Amy Adams
      • Amy & Pearl Hodgson
      • Andrea Graham
      • Angela ​Van Wayenburg
      • Anna Hawkins
      • Anne Woods
      • Bryce Champness
      • Cath Henderson
      • Christina Knauf
      • Dana Thompson
      • Dawn Ballagh
      • Donna Fowles
      • Emma Galloway
      • Emma-Kate Lamb
      • Fiona Moorhouse
      • Hazel Vickers
      • Helena Boston
      • Helen Franklin
      • Hester Jackson-Scott
      • Jackie West
      • Jasmin Hill
      • Jon Berczely
      • Josie Blackshaw
      • Joy Wang
      • Karlene Herdman
      • Kay Feehney
      • Kim Francis
      • Lauren Stafford
      • Leila Macbeth
      • Matt Veevers
      • Melissa Bradford
      • Melissa Harkess
      • Minette Tonoli
      • Neil Bauer
      • Nicki Quinn
      • Niki White
      • Paul Left
      • Philip Wills
      • Quynh Mcleay
      • Rory Soden
      • Sandra Greaney
      • Sarah Williams
      • Silvia Mellen
      • Stephen Nesfield
      • Tony Gyde
      • Troy Boyer
      • Wainee So
      • Wendy Bertholet
      • Wendy Hill
    • PLANT FAMILIES >
      • Allium
      • Brassicaceae
      • Chenopodiaceae
      • Curcubitaceae
      • Leguminosae
      • Grammineae
      • Labiatae
      • Umbelliferae >
        • Apiaceae - Carrots, Celery, Parsnips and Fennel
      • Solanaceae >
        • Peppers
        • Tomatoes
        • Eggplant
        • Potato
        • Pepino
      • Herbs
      • Salad and Leaf
    • Seed Germination
    • Cross Pollination
    • Hybrid vs Heirloom
    • Genetic Diversity
    • Drying Seeds
    • Seed Storage
    • Diseases
    • Landraces >
      • Cucurbita moschata
    • GROW DOWNS >
      • Bean Grow Down 2022-23
      • Cucurbita Grow Down 2021-22
      • Corn Grow Down 2020-21
    • BLOG POSTS >
      • Seed Saving blog
      • Curcubitaceae blog
      • Beans blog
  • SEED SAVERS LIBRARY
    • BECOME A SEED SAVER
    • SEEDS >
      • HERBS
      • FLOWERS
      • FRUIT & BERRIES >
        • MELON
        • SOLANUM FRUITS
      • NATIVE & WILD
      • ORNAMENTAL
      • VEGETABLES >
        • ONIONS
        • BEANS
        • PEAS
        • CUCUMBER & CAIGUA
        • PUMPKIN, SQUASH & GOURD
        • CAPSICUM & CHILLIES
        • BRASSICAS
        • CORN - MAIZE
        • GRAINS
        • SALAD & LEAF
        • SPEARS, STEMS & STALKS
        • ROOTS & TUBERS
        • TOMATOES
    • HOW TO ORDER SEEDS
    • Registration Form
  • RECIPES
    • Hemp Bread
    • Seeded Crackers
    • Banana Bread
    • Carrot Cake
    • Cacao Crunch recipe
    • Honey Sweet chilli sauce
    • Cherry Tomato Confit
    • Comfrey Oil Infusion
    • Fruit Leather
    • Cauliflower Pizza Crust
    • Candied Orange Peel
    • Pumpkin & Pecan muffins
  • Contact

SEED SAVING – UMBELLIFEROUS PLANTS (THINK PARSLEY, FENNEL & DILL)

19/6/2021

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By Minette Tonoli @ meadowsweet.co.nz
A great many of my umbelliferous plants are going to flower now and seed now (late summer to late autumn), making it a perfect time to save seeds for new plantings. You probably have some umbelliferae in your garden too! It is a big word, for a big family, but it basically means fragrant plants that have an upside down umbrella-like flower.
A QUICK BOTANY LESSON
Plants belonging to the umbelliferae family are known as the carrot or parsley family, and make up a group of mostly aromatic herbs. A defining characteristic of these plants is that they flower in a simple or compound umbel. An umbel is a flower made up of a number of short, equal in length, flower stalks radiating from a single point – see images below.
Picture
Picture
Picture
UMBELLIFERAE IN YOUR GARDEN
Now that you see what it looks like, you can probably identify a couple of herbs and vegetables  in your garden that fall into this family – here is a list of just a few that are commonly grown and their “at a glance” seed saving data:
Picture
Picture
Besides saving seeds, or letting your herbs self-sow, there is also another important reason to let these plants bolt (grow a flower stalk to produce umbels, and eventually seeds) – and this reason is apparent in their alternative family name Apiaceae. Apis = bees. Bees love to forage on the flower nectar, and the umbels are also great spots for other beneficial insects to rest, refuel and hide, especially beneficial predatory insects.
 HOW TO HARVEST UMBELLIFERAE SEEDS
Harvesting seeds from these plants is really easy, as the umbels of flowers ripen into clearly distinctive seeds which can easily be rubbed off when ripe. I wait until the seeds are fully ripe (browning or darkening) on the plant and just pinch a bunch between my thumb and fingers and rub them – seeds that are ripe will easily come off, and can be caught in a bag or your other open hand. Alternatively, the whole umbel head can be cut off and shaken into a bag. Keep saved seeds in a cool and dry place until you are ready to sow them.
Picture
 Parsley seed ​
Picture
Mitsuba seed
Picture
Coriander seed
Picture
Dill seed
A NOTE ON SAFETY WITH UMBELLIFERAEThere are some really poisonous plants in the carrot family too, e.g. poison hemlock and water dropwort, so don’t harvest umbelliferae from the wild.
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