Sawtooth Coriander

If growing coriander has often been a failure due to bolting, sawtooth coriander will provide the same flavour in your cooking but is easier to grow.

Growing annual coriander (Coriander sativum) can leave gardeners frustrated and craving the taste of its leaves. Coriander has a habit of bolting to seed when it comes under the slightest stress, such as too much heat, humidity or a lack of water. As it begins to flower and set seed, the leaves become strongly flavoured and unpleasant to eat.

When this happens, you can give up and simply harvest coriander seed, which is a popular spice, or you can try growing another plant altogether. Sawtooth or perennial coriander is a thistle-like biennial with coriander-flavoured leaves. It doesn’t look like coriander but is part of the same family, the Apiaceae or the carrot family. Like normal coriander, it’s easily grown from seed but, unlike its namesake, is not prone to bolting. The leaves can be substituted for coriander and can also be dried. It’s used a lot in South- East Asian cuisines.

Another name for this herb is culantro (not to be confused with
cilantro, the US name for coriander), the name given to it in its native home of the Caribbean. As it hails from a balmy region, sawtooth or perennial coriander can be grown in most parts of Australia but does particularly well in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate zones.

It tolerates humid conditions.

How to grow

To grow this herb, sow seed directly into the herb garden or vegie patch or plant potted plants. It can also be grown successfully in
containers. It likes full sun or part shade and well-drained soil with
regular moisture.

As it grows it forms a plant 50cm high with a rosette about 30cm
wide of long, green, finely toothed leaves. To keep it producing leaves, discourage flowering by removing flowering stems. The flowers are green and spiky and the stems appear in the centre of the leafy rosette in summer.

Did you know?

As an Eryngium, sawtooth coriander is related to the ornamental
plant sea holly (E. maritimum), which has spiky, blue, thistle-like
fl owers and grey-green leaves.

Availability

Look for potted plants in garden centres where it is sold as perennial coriander. Seeds of sawtooth coriander are available by mail order from Herbs are Special (herbsarespecial.com.au).