Sea Fennel
Crithmum is a genus of flowering plant with the sole species Crithmum maritimum, known as samphire, rock samphire, or sea fennel. Rock samphire is an edible wild plant. It is found on southern and western coasts of Britain and Ireland, on mediterranean and western coasts of Europe including the Canary Islands, North Africa and the Black Sea. "Samphire" is a name also used for several other unrelated species of coastal plant.
Culinary use
Rock samphire has fleshy, divided aromatic leaves that Culpeper described as having a "pleasant, hot and spicy taste"
The stems, leaves and seed pods may be pickled in hot, salted, spiced
vinegar, or the leaves used fresh in
salads.
Richard Mabey gives several recipes for samphire, although it is possible that at least one of these may refer to marsh samphire or glasswort (Salicornia europaea), a very common confusion.
