Coriander

Coriander is an annual herb of the family Apiaceae, native to the Mediterranean Basin and standing about half a metre tall. Its leaves change shape up the stem, broad and lobed near the ground and fine and feathery higher up, and its small white to pale pink or lavender flowers sit in umbrella-shaped clusters that ripen into round, golden-brown fruits, sold as the seed. The seed keeps the name coriander, while the leaf is often called cilantro, and both appear in Mexican, Peruvian, Indian and South-east Asian cooking. Its history is long: fruits were found in Tutankhamun's tomb, the Greeks and Romans took it as medicine and to flavour wine, the Chinese linked it with immortality, and in India it is still offered to the gods. The Middle East counted it an aphrodisiac, and medieval and Renaissance Europe put it into love potions. German magicians of the Middle Ages used it to call up spirits, its seeds served in Europe as charms against witches and evil spirits, and in parts of Morocco houses were smoked with it against malevolent jinn. In magic the seeds go into love sachets, are powdered and stirred into warm wine as a lust potion, and are worn to ease headaches.