Lovage Levisticum officinale

LATIN NAME: Levisticum officinale

COMMON NAME: Lovage

The lovage raises its tall, hollow stems and the flat, yellow umbels, and the large, dark-green, celery-like leaves fill the base of the plant. The tall, clump-forming, perennial herb carries the large, deeply divided, dark-green, celery-like leaves and the flat, many-rayed, yellow umbels of the small flowers through the early summer, one of the fine, generous sights of the herb garden, drawing the bees. The leaves and the stems have a long record as the fine, celery-flavoured herb of the old tables, and the plant is a fine, historic presence of the herb garden. It is a plant of the open, sunny to lightly shaded, deep, rich, moist ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The lovage is a historic subject of the plant science, and the tall stems keep showing up in the work on the perennial herbs. The chemistry of the large, deeply divided leaves, which carry the fine, celery-like oils of the old gardens, has been studied steadily, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the perennial herbs, the celery-flavoured plants and the members of the carrot family. The flat, many-rayed umbels and the clump-forming habit have also made it a fine study plant, and the lovage is a regular subject of the work on the tall stems of the early world.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The lovage is a fine, generous herb of the herb garden and the kitchen patch. The large, deeply divided, dark-green, celery-like leaves and the hollow stems have a long record as the fine, celery-flavoured herb of the old tables, the fresh leaves and the chopped stems coming to the soups, the stews, the salads and the broths of the old kitchens, while the flat, many-rayed, yellow umbels of the small flowers open through the early summer, drawing the bees. It is one of the fine choices for the herb garden, the kitchen patch and the study collection, and it has been written about in the culinary and the botanical papers for the celery-flavoured leaves and the very long history. It is a fine, generous herb of the open, sunny to lightly shaded, deep, rich, moist garden.

Give the young plants the deep, rich bed, and the tall stems will rise over the years.

To grow the lovage from seed, sow the small, ridged seeds a centimetre down in the pot of deep, moist soil, keep the pot in a bright, open spot and water gently, then set the young plants out in the open ground. The seedlings thread up within a few weeks and grow on steadily. With the sun or the light shade and the deep, rich, moist ground, the tall stems will rise over the years.

Leaves possess excellent flavouring qualities for soups, stews and casseroles. Flavour is reminiscent of celery, and of the famous yeast extract, Maggi. Can replace meat and bone stock in soups. Also gives the character to vegetable, meat and fish dishes. Vigorous tall growing herb; one of the first to return in spring.