Garlic

Garlic, bulbous perennial plant (Allium sativum) of the lily family, native to central Asia and growing wild in Italy and southern France. The bulbs are used as a flavouring. A classic ingredient in many national cuisines, garlic has a powerful onionlike aroma and pungent taste. Since ancient and medieval times it has been prized for its medicinal properties; it was formerly carried as a charm against vampires and other evils. Garlic bulbs are used sliced or crushed to flavour sauces, stews, and salad dressings. The membranous skin of the garlic bulb encloses up to 20 edible bulblets called cloves. See also allium.

Sesame

Sesame (sĕs`əmē), herb (Sesamum indicum or orientale) cultivated for its seeds since ancient times, found chiefly in the tropics of Africa and Asia. Sesame seeds, also called bennes or gingellies, are black or white and yield an oil that resists turning rancid. The oil (known also as teel oil) is used extensively in India for cooking, soap manufacture, food, and medicine and as an adulterant for olive oil. The seeds are also popularly added to cookies and other baked goods and are made into candy (e.g., benne cakes). Sesame was introduced by African slaves to the U.S. South, where it sometimes becomes a weed. The sesame was once credited with mystic powers. Sesame is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Serophulariales, family Pedaliaceae.

Anise

Anise (ăn`ĭs), annual plant (Pimpinella anisum) of the family Umbelliferae (parsley family), native to the Mediterranean region but long cultivated elsewhere for its aromatic and medicinal qualities. It has flat-topped clusters of small yellow or white flowers that become seedlike fruits—the aniseed of commerce, used in food flavoring. Anise oil is derived from the seeds and sometimes from the leaves. The oil, composed chiefly of anethole, is used in medicinals, dentifrices, perfumes, beverages, and, in drag hunting, to scent a trail for dogs in the absence of a fox. The anise of the Bible (Mat. 23.23) is dill, a plant of the same family. Anisette is an anise-flavored liqueur.

Star anise (Illicium verum), an unrelated, slow-growing evergreen tree native to SE China and NE Vietnam that can reach 60 ft (18 m) in height. The unripe, anise-flavored, star-shaped fruit of the tree is used whole or ground in Asian cooking as spice and in traditional Asian medicine. A compound extracted from the fruit is used to make the anti-influenza drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu).

Anise is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Apiales, family Umbelliferae. Star anise is classified in the class Magnoliopsida, order Illiciales, family Illiciaceae.

Tarragon

Tarragon (târ`əgŏn), perennial aromatic Old World herb (Artemisia dracunculus) of the family Asteraceae (aster family), of the same genus as wormwood and sagebrush. It has long been cultivated in Europe and W Asia for its leaves, used for flavoring vinegar, salads, sauces, soups, and pickles. Its essential oil, sometimes called estragon, is occasionally used in perfume or, in the Old World, medicinally to stimulate appetite or as a diuretic. Tarragon is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Asterales, family Asteraceae.

Sage

Sage, any species of the large genus Salvia, aromatic herbs or shrubs of the family Labiatae (mint family). The common sage of herb gardens is S. officinalis, a strongly scented shrubby perennial, native from S Europe to Asia Minor. The dried leaves are used as seasoning, especially in dressings for meat and poultry and also in sage cheese; sage tea, once popular as a beverage, has also been used as a domestic remedy for colds and other ailments and as a hair rinse; the oil is used in medicinals and flavorings and sometimes in perfumery. Prized since ancient times, common sage was thought to prolong life and to increase wisdom by strengthening the memory—whence the name. The ornamental sages are often popularly called salvia. Of these the scarlet sage (S. splendens), native to Brazil, is best known. Clary (S. sclarea), native from the Mediterranean region to Iran, is a biennial sage whose seeds were once used to "clear the eye"; it has bluish or pinkish flowers, and its oil is sometimes used similarly to that of the common sage. The seeds of some species of W North America, e.g., the thistle sage (S. carduacea) of California, were used by Native Americans for a flour and a beverage. Another species is S. carnosa, the purple sage of the western deserts. Most sages are good honey plants. One of the lantanas (see verbena) is sometimes called red or yellow sage. Sage is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Lamiales, family Labiatae.