Coriander
Coriandrum sativum
A slender, smooth-stemmed annual umbellifer, 20–60 cm tall, carrying broad three-lobed lower leaves and thread-fine upper ones on the same plant. Crushed foliage gives off a strong citrus-soapy scent that divides opinion sharply. Grown for the leaves and for the round, ribbed seeds; in Britain it turns up as a garden escape rather than as a native.
A Mediterranean and western Asian annual, not native to Britain. Widely grown in gardens and on allotments and found as a casual escape on tips, waste ground and disturbed verges, mainly in the south. Prefers open, well-drained soil in full sun and bolts quickly in dry heat.
No eating toxicity: leaves and ripe seed are ordinary kitchen ingredients, though handling large amounts of foliage can irritate sensitive skin and Apiaceae allergy is possible. Self-sown plants come up in the same disturbed ground as fool's parsley (Aethusa cynapium), which is toxic — crushed coriander leaves smell citrus-soapy, while fool's parsley smells sickly and hangs long, downward-pointing bracteoles beneath each umbel. Leave roadside plants alone.
Always use more than one reference to confirm a plant. You are responsible for what you choose to forage.
Habit and stem
Slender, branching annual 20–60 cm tall with smooth, finely ribbed, hollow stems that are plain green with no purple blotching or bristles. Any stout, purple-streaked or hairy umbellifer stem is something else.
Leaves change up the plant
The lowest leaves are broad and parsley-like, cut into three lobes with rounded teeth; leaves higher up are divided into fine thread-like segments. Seeing both leaf forms on one plant is a good early confirmation.
Flowers
Small umbels only 2–5 cm across, with few rays and no ruff of bracts beneath the main umbel. Petals are white to pale pink, and the outward-facing flowers at the rim have one or two enlarged, unequal petals.
Fruit
Nearly spherical ribbed fruits 2–4 mm across that ripen pale straw-brown and stay whole rather than splitting cleanly in the hand. Dill's fruits are flat and winged, fennel's elongated and strongly ridged.
Smell when crushed
Rub a leaf between finger and thumb: the scent is pungent and citrus-soapy and carries several feet. A carrot-like, mousy, sickly or merely faint smell means the plant is not coriander, and that result should end the identification.
Updated 2026-08-07T20:41:52.921Z · Part of the shared Foragers Log catalogue · Herb