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 | Dill Other Names: Anethum graveolus. Fructus Anethi
Botanical Name: Peucedanum graveolens
Family: N.O. Compositae |
Description: |
The plant grows ordinarily from 2 to 2 1/2 feet high and is very like fennel, though smaller, having the same feathery leaves, which stand on sheathing foot-stalks, with linear and pointed leaflets. Unlike fennel, however, it has seldom more than one stalk and its long, spindle-shaped root is only annual. It is of very upright growth, its stems smooth, shiny and hollow, and in midsummer bearing flat terminal umbels with numerous yellow flowers, whose small petals are rolled inwards. The flat fruits, the so-called seeds, are produced in great quantities. They are very pungent and bitter in taste and very light, an ounce containing over 25,000 seeds. Their germinating capacity lasts for three years. The whole plant is aromatic.
The plant was placed by Linnaeus in a separate genus, Anethum, whence the name Fructus Anethi, by which Dill fruit goes in medicine. It is now included in the genus Peucedanum.
Dill is a hardy annual, a native of the Mediterranean region and Southern Russia. It grows wild among the corn in Spain and Portugal and upon the coast of Italy, but rarely occurs as a cornfield weed in Northern Europe.
The plant is referred to in St. Matthew XXiii., 23, though the original Greek name Anethon, was erroneously rendered Anise by English translators, from Wicklif (1380) downwards.
Dill is commonly regarded as the Anethon of Dioscorides. It was well known in Pliny's days and is often mentioned by writers in the Middle Ages. As a drug it has been in use from very early times. It occurs in the tenth-century vocabulary of Alfric, Archbishop of Canterbury.
The name is derived, according to Prior's Popular Names of English Plants, from the old Norse word, dilla (to lull), in allusion to the carminative properties of the drug.
Lyte (Dodoens, 1578) says Dill was sown in all gardens amongst worts and pot-herbs.
In the Middle Ages, Dill was also one of the herbs used by magicians in their spells, and charms against witchcraft.
In Drayton's Nymphidia are the lines:
'Therewith her Vervain and her Dill,
That hindereth Witches of their Will.'
Culpepper tells us that:
'Mercury has the dominion of this plant, and therefore to be sure it strengthens the brain.... It stays the hiccough, being boiled in wine, and but smelled unto being tied in a cloth. The seed is of more use than the leaves, and more effectual to digest raw and vicious humours, and is used in medicines that serve to expel wind, and the pains proceeding therefrom....'
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Habitat: |
| Dill is a hardy annual, a native of the Mediterranean region and Southern Russia. It grows wild among the corn in Spain and Portugal and upon the coast of Italy, but rarely occurs as a cornfield weed in Northern Europe. |
Cultivation: |
This annual is of very easy culture. When grown on a large scale for the sake of its fruits, it may be sown in drills 10 inches apart, in March or April, 10 lb. of the seed being drilled to the acre, and thinned out to leave 8 to 10 inches room each way Sometimes the seed is sown in autumn as soon as ripe, but it is not so advisable as spring sowing. Careful attention must be given to the destruction of weeds. The crop is considered somewhat exhaustive of soil fertility.
Harvesting: Mowing starts as the lower seeds begin, the others ripening on the straw. In dry periods, cutting is best done in early morning or late evening, care being taken to handle with the least possible shaking to prevent loss. The loose sheaves are built into stacks of about twenty sheaves, tied together. In hot weather, threshing may be done in the field, spreading the sheaves on a large canvas sheet and beating out. The average yield is about 7 cwt. of Dill fruits per acre.
The seeds are finally dried by spreading out on trays in the sun, or for a short time over the moderate heat of a stove, shaking occasionally.
Dill fruits are oval, compressed, winged about one-tenth inch wide, with three longitudinal ridges on the back and three dark lines or oil cells (vittae) between them and two on the flat surface. The taste of the fruits somewhat resembles caraway. The seeds are smaller, flatter and lighter than caraway and have a pleasant aromatic odour. They contain a volatile oil (obtained by distillation) on which the action of the fruit depends. The bruised seeds impart their virtues to alcohol and to boiling water. > |
Constituents: |
Oil of Dill is of a pale yellow colour, darkening on keeping, with the odour of the fruit and a hot, acrid taste. Its specific gravity varies between 0.895 and 0.915. The fruit yields about 3.5 per cent of the oil, which is a mixture of a paraffin hydrocarbon and 40 to 60 per cent of d-carvone, with d-limonene. Phellandrine is present in the English and Spanish oils, but not to any appreciable extent in the German oil.
In spite of the difference in odour between Dill and Caraway oils, the composition of the two is almost identical, both consisting nearly entirely of limonene and carvone. Dill oil, however, contains less carvone than caraway oil.
English-distilled oils usually have the highest specific gravity, from 0.910 to 0.916, and are consequently held in the highest esteem. |
Medicinal Usage: |
Like the other umbelliferous fruits and volatile oils, both Dill fruit and oil of Dill possess stimulant, aromatic, carminative and stomachic properties, making them of considerable medicinal value.
Oil of Dill is used in mixtures, or administered in doses of 5 drops on sugar, but its most common use is in the preparation of Dill Water, which is a common domestic remedy for the flatulence of infants, and is a useful vehicle for children's medicine generally.
As a sweet herb, Dill is not much used in this country. When employed, it is for flavouring soups, sauces, etc., for which purpose the young leaves only are required. The leaves added to fish, or mixed with pickled cucumbers give them a spicy taste.
Dill vinegar, however, forms a popular household condiment. It is made by soaking the seeds in vinegar for a few days before using.
The French use Dill seeds for flavouring cakes and pastry, as well as for flavouring sauces.
Perhaps the chief culinary use of Dill seeds is in pickling cucumbers: they are employed in this way chiefly in Germany where pickled cucumbers are largely eaten. |
Ancient Lore: |
DILL ANETHUM GRAVEOLENS
The decoction of dill is a gallant expeller of wind. The common Dill has feathery leaves and looks like Fennel, although the plant does not grow so large. The seed is flatter and thinner than Fennel seed.
Where to find it: It is usually grown in herb gardens or cultivated commer- cially because of the large demand for it, but its natural habitat is the Mediterranean countries, where it grows wild in cornfields.
Flowering time: Mid to late summer.
Astrology. Mercury has dominion over this plant and therefore it strengthens the brain.
Medicinal virtues. It is the seeds that are used. Boiled and drank they ease both swellings and pains. They stayeth the belly and stomach from casting. Women with pains and windiness will be helped if they sit in the decoction. Boiled in wine and tied in a cloth the seeds will stayeth hiccough if they are smelled. The roasted or fried seeds used in oils or plaisters drieth moist ulcers in the fundament. An oil made of Dill is effectual to warm or dissolve humours or imposthumes, to ease pains and to procure rest.
Modern uses: An excellent remedy for children with flatulence or digestive upsets. Oil of Dill is used in many over-the-counter medicines for digestive problems. A few drops can be taken on a lump of sugar, or Dill water can he made by adding eight drops to 1 Pt (568 ml) of distilled water. The dose of the water is from one to eight teaspoonfuls. The seeds are used for flavouring cakes. |
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