Talk:Parsley

Use as a spice
The intro suggests that parsley is used as a spice (the seeds are used) but the culinary use section has no mention of it. Which is correct?

Thomblake (talk) 04:38, 31 May 2015 (UTC)

Scientific Name
I see two species listed in the box. Which one is which? I assume they are for curly and flat leaf each. SargeAbernathy 05:25, 6 April 2006 (UTC)


 * As the name suggests, neapolitanum refers to Italian, or flat, parsley. Where some confusion may arise is that some people treat the two varieties as separate species, Petroselinum crispum and Petroselinum neapolitanum, whereas other authorities treat them as two varieties of one species, Petroselinum crispum var crispum and Petroselinum crispum var neapolitanum.  The latter is probably more appropriate, but the article needs a bit of a rewrite anyway, so someone can incorporate that as and when. FlagSteward 21:39, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

Nomenclature and origin
As far as I have been able to determine, both flat- and curly-leaved parsley are Petroselinum crispum.

According to Tom Stobart ("Herbs and Spices"), the original form of parsley (often known in the UK as "continental parsley") had flat leaves. The curled varieties (moss-curled and imperial-curled), used more for garnishes, were developed in the 19th century, in order to avoid confusion with "fools' parsley", which appears very similar but tastes abominable! The whole exercise now appears as overkill, since the two are easily distinguished by the characteristic odo(u)r of the leaves of true parsley, and the foul smell of fools' parsley. [Stobart has a Linnaean name for fools' parsley - Aethusa cynapium.] Also the curley leaf parsley needs more expansion as to where, how grown, also is there a third variety for growing "root parsley ?". One trick to to help germination after soaking is to cover the seeds with a plank (light board) so as to keep moist longer (avoid drying in soil and retain heat). How about that fools parsley (poison stuff ?). It would be nice if we could add small (4 x 5 cm) jpg's for leaf ID. This aritcle is coming along well, keep up the good work.

I like the way this article says this beautiful plant is "native to the central Mediterranean region" - so it grows in the middle of the sea does it?! I don't know if the word 'central' is really needed, and I also find the list of native nations in brackets afterwards (the presence of which is surely an admittance that the phrase 'central Mediterranean' is more or less meaningless) very hard to believe, especially as there's no source. This isn't a very serious comment - I was mostly hoping to share a quick smile. 90.214.50.250 (talk) 17:40, 24 March 2014 (UTC)

Turnip? Parsnip? Parsley root?
There appears to be some confusion about the relationship, if any, between parsley root, parsnips and turnips. Some dictionaries list "parsley root" and "turnip" (or parsnip?) as synonyms; for example, the Freedict English-Hungarian dictionary gives the meaning of "turnip" as "fehérrépa, petrezselyemgyökér", the latter literally meaning "parsley root" (the former literally means "white carrot" and I believe looks like a Parsnip). I'm confused both as to the botanical relationship between these vegetables and their English names. Can someone shed some light on this please? :)

All right, the article mentioned parsley tea. The thing that I would like to know is what part of the parsley plant is used for this tea? Thanks! Verbum bonum 16:38, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Parsley, parsnip, and turnips are entirely different plants, although parsnips are a close relative of parsley, and hamburg root parsley has been bred to have an edible taproot. I'll add this to the article. --Kaz (talk) 19:42, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

Parsley wine or Parsley beer (?)
Could someone write a few lines on an alcoholic beverage made with parsley. I have heard it called Parsley beer but also Parsley wine. I believe it is traditionally made in Wales. Francisco Valverde 11:53, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

Error
It was used by the Cherokee? Really? When? It's a European herb, so it categorically would have NOT been used by pre-colonial Native Americans of any nation. Especially considering the lack of citation, this sounds to me like yet another white person's attempt of someone to transcribe medicinal use to an herb by making a blanket statement that "Injuns somewhere probably used it for something". Delete it? 23 Dec 2008


 * The Cherokee didn't disappear when European plants got here. They remained with their own civilization on their own land in the southern Appalachian Mountains until the Trail of Tears Indian Removal in the 1830s. They re-formed their civilization in Oklahoma best they could, until the federal government disinherited them. Anyhow, the Cherokees in the southern Appalachians had about a century and a half of living in proximity to immigrated people both black and white, engaging in trade and intermarriage. That is probably how a lot of Native American medicinal plants entered the white Americans' pharmacopoeia, taught to them by the Cherokees whose land and civilization were a crossroads of cultures, and it would be surprising if the Cherokee hadn't in turn learned of and adopted European plants. I don't have any evidence regarding Cherokee use of parsley from the 18th century onward, but there's no reason to rule out the possibility of it, and reason enough to think that it was likely. Johanna-Hypatia (talk) 15:46, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

deleted uncited and unreputable sources material in medical use section. If some one deems it worthy, it requires references to medical and historical uses that are documented. 68.83.199.209 (talk) 20:52, 19 January 2009 (UTC)

Skin irritant
The sap from parsley, when in contact with the skin can cause a rash and blistering similar to poison ivy. I know this from personal experience. I worked on a farm that produced parsley, and every season, this skin outbreak on areas exposed to the sap would result on all of the workers, not just me. This could have something to do with that insect remedy mentioned. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.6.81.48 (talk) 19:21, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Missing word
"Parsley oil contains furanocoumarins and psoralens which leads to extreme if used orally." Extreme what? Swampy 124.179.92.243 (talk) 06:49, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Please do not use a commercial for a product as a footnote.

Flat leafed vs curly
Please do not use a commercial for a product as a footnote. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.225.122.65 (talk) 11:01, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

all risks no benefits?
Seems rather skewed. Here are a couple of sources talking about the benefits of parsley. http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=100 www.home-remedies-for-you.com/articles/Parsley-Juice-Healh-Benefits.html --Jeiki Rebirth (talk) 20:26, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

BItterness
As it says in the Bible parsley is a bitter herb. I have noticed that the curly-leaved varieties discolour and become bitter much faster than the plain-leaved ones.Has anyone else noticed this? I have stopped growing curly-leaf parslsy becuase of this THe plain-leaf tastes bett any way - in my opinion. Hair Commodore (talk) 09:17, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

---From a mailing list--: CLEAN YOUR KIDNEYS WITH LESS THAN $1.00

Years pass by and our kidneys are filtering the blood by removing salt, poison and any unwanted entering our body. With time, the salt accumulates and this needs to undergo cleaning treatments.

YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE NO IDEA AS TO HOW KIDNEYS WORK. THEY ARE NOT PASSIVE FILTERS. WIKIPEDIA IS NO PLACE FOR RUBBISH LIKE THIS. Yes, I know I'm shouting. I deleted all the crap that had accumulated on this page. It needed to undergo a good cleaning treatment so I did it. Cjsunbird (talk) 21:49, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

Cultivation - plagiarism?
The Cultivation section reads as if it has been copied verbatim from some source. It is unencyclopedic and may raise copyright issues. --Ef80 (talk) 12:11, 4 June 2010 (UTC)

Parsley vs. Coriander
I find that the part in which it compares parsley and coriander as having "much the same" use, the only difference being that parsley has a "milder flavour" is quite dubious. The two herbs have completely different taste and feature completely different recipes because they belong to different cuisines. I would amend it or delete it completely. Geon79 (talk) 00:35, 30 November 2010 (UTC)Geon


 * Could someone have confused parsley with cilantro (a.k.a. coriander leaves, sold as "Chinese parsley" during the early stages of its entry into American commerce in the 1970s and '80s)? To this day, supermarket cashiers will squint at a bag of one of these herbs and ask whether it's parsley or cilantro, they look so much alike. Could they have meant to say that coriander leaf (counted as an herb) is "much the same" as coriander seed (counted as a spice)? because same plant. Johanna-Hypatia (talk) 15:56, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

Medicinal use
es:Petroselinum crispum talks about the medicinal use of parsley. When I have a bit of time I'll translate it abd incorporate it on this page as e new section. Peter Horn User talk 02:48, 31 December 2019 (UTC)