Herbs Guide

Coriander

Family Name: Apiaceae

Botanical Name(s): Coriandrum Sativum

Popular Name(s): Cilantro and Chinese Parsley, Dhania, Dhanyak, Kustumbari.

Parts Used: Fruit and fresh leaves

Habitat: It is indigenous to southern Europe, is found occasionally in Britain in fields and waste places and by the sides of rivers.

Description: Coriander is an erect annual, with aromatic lobed leaves, which become more finely divided further up the stem. White to mauve flowers appear on the stem in umbels in summer, followed by ribbed, pale brown fruits.

Uses: Coriander is used for dyspeptic complaints, loss of appetite, and complaints of the upper abdomen. Coriander is also used traditionally for digestive and gastric complaints as well as for coughs, chest pains, bladder complaints, leprosy rash, fever, dysentery, externally for headaches, oral and pharyngeal disorders, halitosis, and post- partal complications