Dill

Anethum graveolens L.

Order - Apiales

Family - Apiaceae

Names:

Other Names:

Summary:

An aromatic culinary herb to 1000 mm tall with tangled, finely divided leaves and yellow flowers in umbels.

Description:

Cotyledons:

Two.

Leaves:

Aromatic when crushed.

Stipules -

Petiole - None.

Blade - Broad base loosely clasping or becoming curved, upper section compound with narrow segments that become curved and tangled

Stems:

Up to 1000 mm tall, striped, symmetrically forked

Flower head:

Large compound umbel with no bracts.

Flowers:

Ovary -

Sepals -

Petals - Yellow, incurved, fall off readily.

Stamens -

Anthers -

Fruit:

Broadly oblong, 3.5-4.5 mm long, flattened on the back. Segments(mericarp) 5 ribbed. Broad back 3 ribbed between winged side ribs.

Seeds:

Flattened on the back.

Roots:

Key Characters:

Strongly aromatic.

Annual or biennial herbaceous plant.

Stems simple at base, branched and spreading above, dichotomously corymbose to 1000 mm high.

Early radical leaves withering before flowering is much advanced.

Leaves mostly along the stems, Dill scented with filiform or very narrow linear entire segments.

Compound umbels well developed.

Flowers yellow.

Fruit without slender bristles.

Seeds compressed from the back.

From N.T. Burbidge

Biology:

Life cycle:

Annual or biennial herb.

Physiology:

Reproduction:

By seed.

Flowering times:

Seed Biology and Germination:

Vegetative Propagules:

Hybrids:

Allelopathy:

Population Dynamics and Dispersal:

Spread mainly by intentional planting.

Origin and History:

Europe and Asia.

Distribution:

ACT, NSW.

Habitats:

Climate:

Temperate.

Soil:

Plant Associations:

Significance:

Beneficial:

Culinary herb.

Detrimental:

Weed of disturbed areas.

Toxicity:

Not recorded as toxic.

Legislation:

None.

Management and Control:

Thresholds:

Eradication strategies:

Herbicide resistance:

Biological Control:

Related plants:

None.

Plants of similar appearance:

References:

Burbidge, N.T. and Gray, M. (1970). Flora of the Australian Capital Territory. (Australian National University Press, Canberra). P287-288. Diagram

Lazarides, M. and Hince, B. (1993). CSIRO handbook of economic plants of Australia. (CSIRO, Melbourne). #89.1.

Acknowledgments:

Collated by HerbiGuide. Phone 08 98444064 or www.herbiguide.com.au for more information.