Anethum graveolens (Jansen, 1981)

2.3 Anethum graveolens L.

’Anethum’: from the Greek ’anethon’, a plant name of Aristophanes; probably derived from the Greek 'aëmi', which means 'I breathe', because of the strong odour of these plants. ’graveolens’: derived from the Latin 'grave' (gravis, graviter)= 'heavy, strong', and from the Latin 'olens' (olere) = 'to smell', so strongly smelling.

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Linnaeus, Sp. Pl., ed. 1: p. 263 (1753).

Type: 'Habitat inter Lusitaniae & Hispaniae segetes'. ’Anethum fructibus compressis’ (specimen LINN 371.1 , lecto.!).

• Anethum arvense Salisb., Prodr.: p. 168 (1796).
• Anethum sowa Roxb. ex Flem., As. Res. 11: p. 156 (1810).
• Angelica graveolens Steudel, Nom., ed. 2(2): p. 555 (1841).
• Ferula graveolens Sprengel, Neue Schr. Halle 2: p. 14 (1813).
• Pastinaca anethum Sprengel, in: Schult., Syst. 6: p. 587 (1820).
• Pastinaca graveolens Bernh., Syst. Verz. Erf.: p. 171 (1800).
• Peucedanum anethum Baill., Trait. bot. méd.: p. 1045 (1884).
• Peucedanum graveolens (L.) Benth. & Hook. f., Gen. Pl. 1: p. 919 (1877).
• Peucadenum sowa Kurz, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. 46, 2: p. 116 (1877).
• Selinum anethum Roth, Tent. Fl. Germ. 1: p. 134 (1827).

• 1830: De Candolle, Prodr. 4: p. 185-186. (tax.)
• 1847: Richard, Tent. fi. Abyss. 1: p. 329. (tax.)
• 1866: Alefeld , Landwirthschaftliche Flora: p. 158-159. (tax.)
• 1867: Schweinfurth, Beitrag zur Flora Aethiopiens: p. 84. (tax.)
• 1872: Boissier, Flora Orient. 2: p. 1026-1027. (tax.)
• 1874: Flückiger & Hanbury, Pharmacographia: p. 291-293. (use)
• 1874: Roxburgh, Flora indica (repr. ed. 1832): p. 272-273. (tax.)
• 1879: Clarke, in: Flora of British India 2: p. 709. (tax.)
• 1895: Engler, Pflanzenw. Ost-Afrikas & Nachbargebiete, B., Nutzpflanzen: p. 279. (use)
• 1897: Drude, Umbelliferae, in: Engler & Prantl, Die nat. Pflanzenfam., ed. 1, B. 3, 8: p. 208-209. (tax.)
• 1925: Thellung, Umbelliferae, in: Hegi, Illustr. Fl. Mittel-Eur., ed. 1, B. 5, 2: p. 1290-1295. (tax. + use)
• 1933: Redgrove, Spices and condiments: p. 211-216. (agric.)
• 1946: Baldrati, Piante officinali dell'Africa orientale, Centra Studi Colon. 32: p. 19. (use)
• 1957: Mensier, Dictionnaire des huiles végétales, Encycl. Biol. 52: p. 39-40. (chem.)
• 1959: Cufodontis, Enumeratio, Bull. Jard. Bot. État Brux. 29(3), suppl.: p. 648. (tax .)
• 1961: Garnier, Ressources médicinales de la flore française , 2: p. 857-859. (use + chem.)
• 1963: Siegenthaler, Useful plants of Ethiopia, Exp. Stn. Bull. 14: p. 12. (use)
• 1968: Tutin, Umbelliferae, in: Flora Europaea 2: p. 341-342. (tax.)
• 1969: Rosengarten, The book of spices: p. 232-237. (use)
• 1969: Parry, Spices, 1: p. 189-190; 2: 116-119. (use)
• 1970: Szujko-Lacza, External and internal morphology of A. graveolens, Acta Bot. Acad. Sei. Hung. 16(1/2): p. 213-240. (bot.)
• 1972: Hedge & Lamond, Umbelliferae, in: Flora of Turkey, 4: p. 377. (tax.)
• 1974: Gessner & Orzechowski, Gift- und Arzneipflanzen von Mitteleuropa, ed. 3: p. 295. (use)
• 1976: Gorini, Ortaggi da foglia: 2.4 Aneto, Informatore di Ortoflorofrutticoltura 17(7): p. 3-5. (agric.)
• 1976- 1977: Kloos, Preliminary studies of Medicinal plants and plant products in markets of central Ethiopia, Ethnomedicine, B. 4, 1/2: p. 85-86. (use)
• 1977: Embong et al., Essential ails from spices grown in Alberta. Dill seed oil, A. graveolens, Can. Inst. Food Sei. Technol. J. 10(3): p. 208-214. (chem.)
• 1978: Cannon, Umbelliferae, in: Flora Zambesiaca, 4: p. 607-609. (tax.)

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• ensilai, insilal, selan, shelan, (Amarinia);
• kamun, kamuni (Gallinia);
• sandanhoa, salanbeta, shilan (Tigrinia).

• dill (English);
• aneth, aneth odorant, fenouil puant, fenouil bâtard (French);
• Dill, Gemeiner Dill, Dillfenchel, Teufelsdill, Gurkenkraut (German).

Seed samples offered for sale on Ethiopian markets under the local names are almost always mixtures of seeds of Anethum foeniculum, Anethum graveolens, and Cuminum cyminum.

A. graveolens is probably indigenous to the Mediterranean region and SouthEast Asia (Thellung, 1925). It is now cultivated all over the world, often as a culinary herb in gardens. It was reported to be a troublesome weed in Paraguay (Thellung, 1925).

In Ethiopia, the fruits are for sale on almost every market and small scale cultivation is widespread in all provinces. According to Baldrati (1946), the plant grows in the wild in Ethiopia too. If so, it is certainly less common than Anethum foeniculum L. and I never collected it from the wild.

An erect annual herb, ca 30-150 cm high, with a light-brown to yellowish taproot, up to 12 mm diam., with many sideroots; green parts often glaucous, making the plant sometimes look blue-green; all parts glabrous, strong smelling (not sweet), especially after crushing.

• Stem terete to subterete, ca 2-12 mm diam., branched at ali heights, sulcate, with fine, whitish to yellowish lines alternating with broader dark-green lines; blue-green to dark-green, lighter-green at nodes, internodes often hollow.
• Leaves alternate, decompound, sheathed; sheath forming an open cone, embracing the stem at base, ca 1-3(-5) cm long, with white, scarious margins, up to 1 mm broad, whitish inside, sulcate and yellow-green outside; petiole otherwise (sub) terete, sulcate, equalling to exceeding (by up to 13 cm) the sheath; lower leaves usually rather long petiolate, higher ones with the blades often sessile on sheath or almost so; blades triangular or ovate in outline, up to 30 x 50 cm, usually much smaller, pinnately divided into ca 2-6 pairs or whorls (in this case usually 3 or 4 pinnae) of primary pinnae and one top-pinna; each pinna again 2-4 times pinnately divided into linear or filiform, acute, blue-green or dark-green lobes of ca 1-60 x 0.1-1 mm; lobes of the lower leaves usually broader and shorter than those of the higher ones.
• Inflorescence a compound umbel, ca 4-16 cm diam.; peduncle stem-like, ca 4-30 cm long; bracts and bracteoles usually absent; primary rays terete to subterete, finely sulcate, ca 5-35 per umbel and ca (1-)2-7(-10) cm long, unequal in length, the longest at the outside of the umbel, blue-green to medium-green; secondary rays terete, finely sulcate, ca 3-35 per umbellet, ca (1-)5-10(-15) mm long, unequal in length, the shortest near the centre of the umbellet, blue-green or medium-green (rarely a secondary ray is branched and bears 2-4 flowers on top); all flowers

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bisexual and actinomorphic, often some central ones remaining rudimentary, protandrous (usually the styles and stigmas becoming fully developed after shedding the corolla and stamens).

• Calyx vestigial, sometimes 5 very small light or dark-green teeth at the top of and adnate to the ovary.
• Corolla: petals 5, distinct, subovate in outline, ca 0.5-1.5 x 0.75-1 mm, top strongly inflexed, glabrous, yellow, with a thin membranous outgrowth on the ventral side of the midrib from base to nearly the top, margin entire, usually notched at apex.
• Androecium: stamens 5, distinct, alternating with the petals; filaments conical, the fleshy base tapering towards the filiform apex, ca 1.5 mm long, yellow, inflexed in bud; anthers dorsifixed, 2-celled, ovate, ca 0.5 x 0.5 mm, yellow, dehiscing by longitudinal slits.
• Gynoecium: pistil 1; inferior ovary conical, ca 1-2 x 0.5-1.5 mm, usually with 8 protruding, rather broad, longitudinal, subparallel ribs, bilocular with 1 pendulous ovule per locule, light-green, crowned by a white, persistent, conical, fleshy stylopodium of ca 0.5 x 1 mm; styles 2, persistent, fleshy, ca 0.5 mm long, spreading, white, with a small, slightly thickened spherical, finely papiliate, white or light green, apical stigma.
• Fruit usually an erect, lens-shaped schizocarp, (2.5-)3.5-5(-6) x 2-3(-4) mm, light or dark brown with a whitish to pale-brown margin, splitting at maturity into 2 one-seeded mericarps, which are attached by their top to an erect, whitish, thin carpophore; the carpophore splits down to the base; mericarps flat or slightly concave at the commissural side, slightly convex at the dorsal side, usually with three longitudinal, subparallel, prominent ridges with a whitish to pale-brown sharp apex and two flat, wing-like, whitish to pale-brown commissural ridges, up to 0.5 mm wide; on the commissural side usually two dark-brown, slightly protruding, longitudinal vittae are present; on the dorsal side, usually between each two ridges, one vitta is present; the fruits are crowned by the remaining stylopodium and styles.
• Seed: testa adnate to the pericarp; embryo at apex of mericarp, usually straight, ca 1 x 0.3 mm, white, with conical radicle and two small cotyledons; endosperm copious, grey, fatty.
• Seedling: germination epigeal; taproot thin, whitish, with many fine side-roots; hypocotyl terete, ca 5-25 mm long, light-green or more often red-brown; cotyledons opposite, linear, attenuating petiole-like towards slightly sheathing base, ca 15-50 x 1-2 mm, light-green, entire; next leaf decompound, triangular in outline, sheathing part of petiole 3-10 mm long with white scarious margins, non-sheathing part of petiole 2-2.5 cm long; blade 1-2.5. x 1-3 cm in outline, usually divided into three or five pinnae, each divided into filiform to sublinear lobes, 1-18 mm long.

(1) Linnaeus described dill as ’Anethum fructibus compressis’ in Sp. Pl. (1753), and referred to Hort. Cliff. 106, Hort. Ups. 66, Mat. med. 146, Roy. lugdb. 116 and to Anethum hortense Bauh. pin. 14 7. He did not change his opinion about this species between 1738 and 1753, describing dill as ’Anethum fructo compresso’ in Hort. Cliff.

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Fig. 3. Anethum graveolens L. -1. habit of plant part (⅔x); 2. flower at male flowering stage (8x); 3. flower at female flowering stage (8x); 4. fruit (6x); 5. cross-section of fruit (6x); 6. seedling (⅔x). -1. PJ 658; 2. PJ 2935 (spirit mat.); 3. PJ 2936 (spirit mat.); 4-5. PJ 4507; 6. PJ 136 (spirit mat.).

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(p. 106). So the type specimen of the species should preferably be chosen from the Hort. Cliff. herbarium (BM). In that herbarium three pecimens are present under ’Anethum fructo compresso’, but none of them expresses well the character of the protologue. The specimen present in the van Royen herbarium (L) only bears flowers. The one loose fruit, present on the same sheet (van Royen) might be a later addition. In LINN three specimens are present under A. graveolens. Of these three specimens I designate as lectotype specimen LINN 371.1, as it clearly shows the character of the protologue and as the sheet bears the inscription: ’1 graveolens’, which corresponds with the order in Sp. Pl.

(2) Thellung (1925) distinguished three forms of A. graveolens:

• (a) f. minus (Gouan) Maris 1843 (ca 30 cm high, leaves small with short and stiff lobes, primary rays (4-)6-10, fruit 3-3.5 x 1.5-2 mm with narrow wings);
• (b) f. submarginatum Lej. et Court. 1836 (fruits as f. minus but other parts stronger, leaf lobes longer and not so stiff);
• (c) f. hortorum Alef. 1866 (the largest, cultivated form, leaf lobes long, not stiff, many primary rays, fruits up to 5 x 4 mm with wide wings).

In the Ethiopian material those forms cannot be distinguished. Although Thellung adopted 3 forms, he stated at the same time that these three forms were not essentially different.

Tutin (1968), Hedge & Lamond (1972) and Cannon (1978), authors dealing with dill in three recent floras, do not subdivide the species.

(3) For easy distinction between A. graveolens and A. foeniculum, the following characters of A. graveolens are useful:

• All parts smell and taste bitter, slightly pungent
• The fruits are lens-shaped and narrowly winged
• On average the secondary rays of the umbel are longer than in A. foeniculum (In Ethiopia, A. graveolens rarely grows in the wild).

(4) Only one obvious difference was observed between plants raised at Wageningen and in Ethiopia: the number of primary rays varied from 5 to 22 in the Wageningen material and from 5 to 35 in the Ethiopian material.

(5) The description is based on the following specimens: Begemdir Gojam Hararge Illubabor Kefa Shoa Wollega Grown at Debarek market: WP 4971. Dedjen market:SL 778. Alemaya, cultivated at College of Agriculture: PJ 1816-1819, PJ 1821 , PJ 2782-2783, PJ 2801-2803, PJ 2809, PJ 2935-2937, PJ 4026-4031 , PJ 4072-4073, PJ 4332-4335 , PJ 4506-4507; Dire Dawa "iitarket: PJ 1037, PJ 1041; Mieso market: WP 3516. Gambella market: PJ 5108. Jimma market: WP 3275-3276, WP 3278, WP 3280, SL 137. Nazareth, cultivated in garden IAR: PJ 2420-2423, PJ 3588, PJ 3590-3593, PJ 4709, PJ 4711-4712. Bekedjana market: SL 1572; Ghimbi market: PJ 1181 , PJ 1185-1187; Nekemt market: WP 3388. Wageningen WP 7347-7352, WP 7360-7362, WP 7365-7366, PJ 135-137, PJ 144, PJ 306-307, PJ 310, PJ 402-403, PJ 593-595, PJ 658, Pl 743-746, PJ 755-757, J. van Veldhuizen 13.

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The following specimens, originating from Ethiopia, were seen (all in FT herbarium): I. Baldrati 597; P. Benedetto 201; A. de Benedictus 310; I. Bisi 106; G. Negri 1374; A. Pappi 3, 115, 149, 163, 260, 2411 , 6557; Schimperi iter Abyssinicum no. 379 (22-12-1837).

Dill grows successfully in Ethiopia at altitudes of ca 1500-2000 m.

In Hungary, dill has a taproot 5-18 cm long, 3-10 mm diam. with side-roots up to 10-12 cm long and 1-1.5 mm in diam., suggesting that it can be grown as a rainfed crop only in the rainy season (Szujko-Lacza, 1970).

According to Thellung (1925), the flowers are odoriferous but poorly nectariferous. Yet the flowers are well visited by bees and flies. As the flowers are strongly protandrous, cross-pollination and -fertilization seem normal.

Dill is easily grown from seed. According to Thellung (1925), the plant does not demand much of the soil or manuring. Redgrove (1933), however, stated that dill tends to exhaust the soil. In India dill is preferably grown on sandy loams to which farmyard manure has been added (Joshi, 1961). Thellung (1925) recorded that dili is often intercropped between, for instance, onions, parsley or carrots. In Ethiopia, dill is also normally grown as an intercrop. If cultivated as a field crop, ca 7 kg/ha of seed is required. It is usually sown with rows ca 70 cm a part and with ca 15-30 cm between plants in the rows. As the plant produces a taproot, sowing in a nursery and subsequent transplanting is not recommended (Rosengarten, 1969). Germination takes about 15-20 days. At low temperatures, germination takes longer.

The seed remains viable for ca 2-3 years and germination is ca 75% (Gorini, 1976). The optimum monthly average temperature for growing dill in Italy is ca 16-18°C (Gorini, 1976), the minimum temperature for growth ca 7°C. Dill cannot withstand wet conditions (Thellung, 1925).

If the highest quality dill is required, either for dili-weed or for essential oil, the plants should be eut before they flower. If the fruits ( dill-seed) are required, the plants usually are harvested moist with dew to prevent excessive dropping. As the fruits do not mature all at once, some maturing after harvest must be allowed (preferably in the shade), after which the plants are threshed. Yield of fruits is ca 500-700 kg/ha (Rosengarten, 1969).

In Ethiopia, where dill is mainly grown for its fruits, full germination was observed ca one month after sowing, flowering after ca 2-3 months, and harvest was possible after ca 5-6 months.

According to Thellung (1925), the following diseases of dill are common:

• A leaf spot caused by Ascochyta anethicola Sacc.
• A stem spot caused by Phoma anethi Sacc. This disease was also observed on dill in Ethiopia (Shoa Prov.) by Stewart & Dagnatchew (1967).
• A rust caused by Puccinia petroselini Lindr.

As pests, Thellung (1925) reported plant-lice and caterpillars without specification. In India, the larva of the chalcid fly Systole albipennis Walk. feeds upon embryos or

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Photograph 4. Anethum graveolens, flowering plant, PJ 306.

endosperm of umbelliferous seeds. In dill, it may cause a loss of ca 25% of the seeds (Gupta, 1962).

In Ethiopia, no serious diseases or pests were observed on dill in 1975-1977.

Culinary uses

Dill has been used as a herb since ancient times. The green parts and the fruits have a pleasant aromatic odour but are a bit bitter and pungent in taste. Finely chopped fresh or dry leaves are used as a culinary herb, for instance in soups, salads, boiled

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potatoes and sauces. The fruits are used to flavour pickled cucumbers, onions, vinegar, pastries, sauce and sauerkraut. In parts of Germany and Scandinavia the fruits are sometimes added to bread. In India the fruits are an ingredient of curry powder (Thellung, 1925; Redgrove, 1933; Rosengarten, 1969). Dill salt is a concentrated aromatic powder, obtained by extraction of the fruits with alcohol and subsequent drying of the extract. The extracted fruits may be roasted at ca 200°C and again extracted with hot water. The resulting brown-black extract is used in the preparation of jam and liquors. The roasted fruits were sometimes used as a coffee substitute. The essential oil of dill is used in manufacturing liquor and oil-extracted fruits are used as cattle fodder (Thellung, 1925).

In Ethiopia, the dried fruits and flowers are a flavouring agent in several kinds of 'wot'. According to Asrat (1962) and Telahun (1962), all tender parts of the plants (also the fruits) are used as a flavouring agent in the preparation of 'katikala', a local alcoholic beverage.

Medicinal uses

Dill was known as a medicinal plant in past centuries, but is now almost unused in medicine. The fruits were said to cure hiccoughs, to soothe stomach aches, to mask bad breath and to cure haemorroids. To ease digestion, dill water is recommended, made by distilling one part of the spice with 20 parts of water. A mixture of a quarter

Photograph 5. Anethum graveolens, mericarps (3x), PJ 745.

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litre of white wine with 10 g of a decoction of dill fruits is said to relieve insomnia (Redgrove, 1933; Garnier et al., 1961; Rosengarten, 1969). The oil of dill is strongly antiseptic (Thellung, 1925). According to Mensier (1957), the essential oil of dill is used against colics. In India, the fruits are especially recommended for pregnant women (Joshi, 1961). Rosengarten (1969) reported that dill's pleasant flavouring is reputed to be beneficiai for diabetic patients and for persons on a low-salt diet. In Ethiopia, the medicinal use of dill is similar to that of fennel.

According to Garnier et al. (1961) the dry fruits of dill contain water 8%, fatty oil 15-20%, crude protein 18%, pectin 6%, fibre 30% and essential oil 3-4%. The essential oil is pale yellow or colourless when freshly distilled and the taste of it is like the spice. Its chief constituents are D-limonene (up to 70%) and D-carvone (at least 30%). The essential oil may be obtained from the fruits alone (dill-seed oil) or from the whole plant (dill-weed oil). The dill-seed has a high D-carvone content, which varies with geographical origin, the cultivar and the maturity rate of the seed (USA 50-60%, Europe 37-60% ). The dill-weed oil has a D-carvone content ranging from 12 to 42.5 %. The total essential oil content varies also: for the seed 2.1% in India to 5.6% in Russia; for the weed 0.16% in India, 1.5% in Russia (Embong et al., 1977).

The leaves contain ca 60 mg ascorbic acid per 100 g (vit. C). The oil-extracted fruits, used as cattle fodder, contain ca 15-18% fat and ca 15% protein (Redgrove, 1933).