Canna Lily - Canna x generalis

These are native to tropical and subtropical regions of North and South America. Their name is something of a misnomer since they're not actually lilies, but they are related to them.

These plants are a little unhappy, living at my place. When they're outdoors, it's not hot enough, and when they're indoors, they're getting a good amount of sun but still not as much as they probably need. I'm hopeful that they'll survive, but if worst comes to worst I'll kill them off and eat their rhizomes, which are apparently a great source of starch and are even grown for agricultural purposes! So it's a win-win situation (for me, not for my plants).

Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida (considered synonymous or nearly synonymous with monocotyledons - need to clarify what "nearly synonymous" means)
Order: Zingiberales (another great name)
Family: Cannaceae
Genus: Canna (the only genus in the Cannaceae family)
Species: C. x generalis

Basil - Ocimum basilicum

Basil is native to South Asia and South-East Asia. It is not, therefore, adapted to cold temperatures, and is already starting to look a little wilty and feeble out on my balcony. Earlier in the summer it looked healthier. I'm going to try to grow it indoors during the winter.

Basil is from the same family -- Lamiaceae -- as many other plants that we enjoy eating: mint, sage, rosemary, oregano, and thyme, among others.


Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Ocimum
Species: O. basilicum

Italian Parsley - Petroselinum neapolitanum

Parsley is native to southern Europe and the Mediterranean region.

Fortunately for this little guy, I don't like the taste of parsley so I'm not going to eat it. I thought I was alone in having somewhat negative feelings towards parsley, but my god, parsley turns out to have bothered and even terrified people throughout history. Plutarch wrote that the ancient Greeks were so terrified of parsley that the Corinthians won a battle by exploiting this fear: they sent a bunch of donkeys laden with parsley towards the Greeks, and the Greeks fled. According to an article I by a parsley historian (yes, a parsley historian), the Greeks had long associated parsley with death. This belief was then carried on through history, and during medieval times people apparently believed that before parsley seeds could germinate they had to travel to hell and back.

I knew there was something weird about it.


Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Apiales
Family: Apiaceae
Genus: Petroselinum
Species: P. neopolitanum

Dill - Anethum graveolens

This is a very healthy, and very about-to-be-eaten-by-me, member of my plant collection. Originally dill was native to southwest and central Asia. However, dill has been transplanted far and wide, probably due to its deliciousness: apparently there is evidence of dill cultivation in Switzerland dating back to the Neolithic era.


Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Apiales
Family: Apiaceae
Genus: Anethum
Species: A. graveolens (the only species in this genus!)

Sage - Salvia officinalis

This plant is growing very well and looking lovely. The only problem it's going to have in life is that it smells so good, I'm going to break down and eat it all any day now.

The word Salvia, in its Latin name, means "to heal," and evidently sage has been recommended throughout history for nearly every disease you can think of. My instinctive reaction was that this is probably because it smells so good, you feel like it has to be good for you, but then I plugged Salvia officinalis into Pubmed and learned that there's actually some evidence that it's a beneficial antioxidant and might have some impact on Alzheimer's.

Salvia officinalis is native to Europe and Asia Minor.


Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Salvia
Species: S. officinales

Rosemary - Rosmarinus officinalis

Rosemary is native to the Mediterranean region.

When I first saw the scientific name, "Rosmarinus" struck me as a fake Latin word invented to match the English word, "rosemary" (my suspicions re Latinesque words have been heightened ever since I got my diploma and discovered that it has a fake Latin word for "Connecticut" - "Connecticensus" (or something like that)). Oh, how wrong I was! At least according to thefreedictionary.com, which says that "rosemary" comes from a Middle English word "rosemarine," which was derived from the Latin words "ros marinus."


Phylum/division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Rosmarinus
Species: R. officinalis