Eryngium foetidum aka Culantro

Eryngium foetidum is an herb known as culantro. It is a perennial, so it lives for several years. Other names include thorny coriander, saw leaf herb, and shado beni. It belongs to the Apiaceae family. It is native to Mexico and Central America. People gather wild plants for food and folk medicine. They also grow it to flavour food in the tropics. It has become naturalised in Nepal. There, it grows on rocky ground.

This upright plant grows from a taproot. Reported heights range from about 0.7–2.6 feet (0.2–0.8 metres). The source also gives its height as 0.7 feet (0.2 metres). It grows in meadows, plantations, and places with disturbed ground. It also grows beside roads and along forest edges. Plants tend to grow alone, not in close groups. They can form flowers and seeds all year. Insects carry pollen between the flowers.

Accounts of how to grow it differ on sun needs. One calls for a very sunny site and well-drained soil. Another calls for part shade and rich soil that stays moist. Both give ways to grow this tropical food herb. Growers can use seeds or stem cuttings to raise plants. Sow fresh, ripe seed where it will grow or in a nursery bed. The plant can grow as a weed. This does not prove that it is invasive.

The leaves have a strong taste that recalls coriander. People eat them raw or cooked. Some steam them with rice. They also use them in soups, curries, stews, and rice dishes. The leaves are tough, so it helps to chop them fine before cooking. A few minutes of cooking helps prepare them for use. Raw roots smell bad, but people use them to flavour soups. Seeds also serve as a seasoning. Distilling the seeds yields an essential oil.

Pick tender leaves, but leave the top three in place. Pick more every one to two weeks until flowers halt the harvest. Leaves wilt fast, so pick them close to use. Folk remedies use the whole plant, leaves, and roots. These uses do not prove that treatments work or are safe. The source reports no known hazards. Yet it lists abortifacient root use: use to end a pregnancy. This calls for care, not a broad claim of safety.