skirret

Skirret (Sium sisarum) is one of 10 species of perennials in the parsnip family (Umbelliferae).

Sium sisarum (Skirret, Crummock) is a perennial plant of the family Apiaceae sometimes grown as a root vegetable.

Vegetables included kale, cabbage, onions and leeks, peas and beans, turnips and carrots, and some types no longer common, such as skirret.

Ann Leighton notes the absence of Indian corn among the "Seeds of Esculent Vegetables" in 1806, though he lists old-fashioned favorites like coriander, corn-salad, orach, rampion, rocambole and skirret.

He married Alice Skirret, and they had three sons and four daughters; their second son, Sir John Glanville the younger, was also distinguished as a lawyer and was Speaker of the House of Commons in 1640.

These herb gardens grew the costmary that was used to flavour ale, the skirret - a carrot-like root - that was mixed with honey to form the fillings of sweet tarts, and the damask roses whose petals were made into jam.

In the midst of receipts for "Rabbits, and Chickens mumbled, Pickled Samphire, Skirret Pye, Baked Tansy," and other forgotten delicacies, there were directions for the preparation of several lotions for the preservation of beauty.

The skirret is of Chinese origin, but may have arrived in Europe in early times: it is presumed to be the siser mentioned by Pliny the Elder as a favourite of the Emperor Tiberius (Natural History, 19.27.90), and was also grown by the Picts.