Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum) is a stout, glossy-leaved biennial of the carrot and celery family (Apiaceae), once one of the most widely grown pot-herbs of medieval Europe and now a common wild green of coastal hedgerows and cliff-tops. Every part is edible — the young leaves, the thick blanched stems, the unopened flower buds, the root and the spicy black seeds — and the flavour sits between celery and parsley, with a warm, slightly bitter, myrrh-like edge.