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39-401: Tarragon ( Artemisia dracunculus ), also known as estragon , is a species of perennial herb in the family Asteraceae . It is widespread in the wild across much of Eurasia and North America and is cultivated for culinary and medicinal purposes. One subspecies, Artemisia dracunculus var. sativa , is cultivated to use the leaves as an aromatic culinary herb. In some other subspecies,

78-443: A century plant can live for 80 years and grow 30 meters tall before flowering and dying. However, most perennials are polycarpic (or iteroparous ), flowering over many seasons in their lifetime. Perennials invest more resources than annuals into roots, crowns, and other structures that allow them to live from one year to the next. They often have a competitive advantage because they can commence their growth and leaf out earlier in

117-940: A photolyase and the other, a protein involved in nucleotide excision repair ). Perennials that are cultivated include: woody plants like fruit trees grown for their edible fruits; shrubs and trees grown as landscaping ornamentals ; herbaceous food crops like asparagus , rhubarb , strawberries ; and subtropical plants not hardy in colder areas such as tomatoes , eggplant , and coleus (which are treated as annuals in colder areas). Perennials also include plants grown for their flowering and other ornamental value including bulbs (like tulips, narcissus, and gladiolus); lawn grass, and other groundcovers , (such as periwinkle and Dichondra ). Each type of plant must be separated differently; for example, plants with fibrous root systems like daylilies, Siberian iris, or grasses can be pried apart with two garden forks inserted back to back, or cut by knives. However, plants such as bearded irises have

156-609: A 80 kg human would be ~400 mg per day, or 130 g of fresh tarragon leaves per day. As use as a culinary herb, a typical quantity used in a dish could be 5 grams of fresh leaves. Estragole, along with other oils that provide tarragon its flavour, are highly volatile and will vapourise as the leaf is dried, reducing both the health risk and the useability of the herb. Several other herbs, such as Basil , also contain estragole. In Syria , Syrians eat fresh tarragon with white Syrian cheese. Syrians also use it with Syrian dishes such as shish barak and kibbeh labaniyeh . In Iran , tarragon

195-499: A flavor and odor profile reminiscent of anise due largely to the presence of estragole , a known carcinogen and teratogen in mice. Estragole concentration in fresh tarragon leaves is about 2900 mg/kg. However, a European Union investigation concluded that the danger of estragole is minimal. Research studying rat livers found a BMDL 10 (Approximately the dose that would cause a 10% Increase in background tumour rate) of estragole to be 3.3–6.5 mg/kg body weight per day, which for

234-448: A pint of sour cream. In his subsequent discussion of "Salad Herbs", Beard lists: 1) Tarragon: "The most pleasant salad herb .... Use the fresh if you can"; 2) Chervil, which he calls "delicate and subtle"; 3) Fresh Dill, which Beard recommends especially for salads containing cucumber or cabbage; and 4) Sweet Basil: a "a natural complement to tomatoes". Beard identifies these four herbs—tarragon, chervil, dill, and basil—as, "the noblest of

273-466: A relatively short cooking period; they may also be used in a beurre blanc sauce for seasoning such dishes. Fines herbes are also eaten raw in salads. In 1903, the renowned chef Auguste Escoffier noted that dishes labeled aux fines herbes were sometimes being made with parsley alone. In his Culinary Guide , Escoffier insisted that: It is a mistake to serve, under the name Omelette aux fines herbes , an omelet in which chopped parsley furnishes

312-470: A root system of rhizomes; these root systems should be planted with the top of the rhizome just above ground level, with leaves from the following year showing. The point of dividing perennials is to increase the amount of a single breed of plant in your garden. In the United States more than 900 million dollars worth of potted herbaceous perennial plants were sold in 2019. Although most of humanity

351-403: A teenaged apprentice chef, he was ordered to prepare a simple " omelette aux fines herbes —three eggs, chervil, parsley, tarragon, chives—the first omelette I was assigned to prepare for paying guests, after a considerable amount of practicing on others." In his anxiety he almost spoiled the dish. Yet, in his accompanying recipe for Americans printed in the same book, Franey substitutes basil for

390-479: A very few (e.g. Zostera ) occurring in shallow sea water. Herbaceous perennial plants are particularly dominant in conditions too fire-prone for trees and shrubs, e.g., most plants on prairies and steppes are perennials; they are also dominant on tundra too cold for tree growth. Nearly all forest plants are perennials, including trees and shrubs. Perennial plants are usually better long-term competitors, especially under stable, resource-poor conditions. This

429-426: Is Mexican tarragon ( Tagetes lucida ), also known as Mexican mint marigold, Texas tarragon, or winter tarragon. It is much more reminiscent of French tarragon, with a hint of anise. Although not in the same genus as the other tarragons, Mexican tarragon has a more robust flavor than Russian tarragon that does not diminish significantly with age. It can not however be grown as a perennial in cold climates. Tarragon has

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468-415: Is also a class of evergreen perennials which lack woody stems, such as Bergenia which retain a mantle of leaves throughout the year. An intermediate class of plants is known as subshrubs , which retain a vestigial woody structure in winter, e.g. Penstemon . The symbol for a perennial plant, based on Species Plantarum by Linnaeus , is [REDACTED] , which is also the astronomical symbol for

507-447: Is called fines herbes ", while Alan Davidson , author of The Oxford Companion to Food , identifies chopped fresh parsley as the minimum basis of the fines herbes mix, with the addition of "any (or all) of: chervil, tarragon, chives", noting that the number of different herbs to be used is not fixed. Food scientist Harold McGee 's definition limits the number to tarragon, chervil, chive, and omits parsley. McGee also recommends that

546-783: Is due to the development of larger root systems which can access water and soil nutrients deeper in the soil and to earlier emergence in the spring. Annual plants have an advantage in disturbed environments because of their faster growth and reproduction rates. Each section contains a short list of species related to that topic, these are an example as the true lists would fill several books. Perennials grown for their decorative flowers include very many species and types. Some examples include: The majority of fruit bearing plants are perennial even in temperate climates. Examples include: Many herbs are perennial, including these examples: Many vegetable plants can grow as perennials in tropical climates, but die in cold weather. Examples of some of

585-483: Is fed by the re-sowing of the seeds of annual grain crops, (either naturally or by the manual efforts of humans), perennial crops provide numerous benefits. Perennial plants often have deep, extensive root systems which can hold soil to prevent erosion , capture dissolved nitrogen before it can contaminate ground and surface water, and out-compete weeds (reducing the need for herbicides ). These potential benefits of perennials have resulted in new attempts to increase

624-582: Is not as intensely aromatic and flavorsome as its French cousin, but it produces many more leaves from early spring onwards that are mild and good in salads and cooked food. Russian tarragon loses what flavor it has as it ages and is widely considered useless as a culinary herb, though it is sometimes used in crafts. The young stems in early spring can be cooked as an asparagus substitute. Horticulturists recommend that Russian tarragon be grown indoors from seed and planted in summer. The spreading plants can be divided easily. A better substitute for Russian tarragon

663-542: Is the variety used for cooking in the kitchen and is not grown from seed, as the flowers are sterile; instead, it is propagated by root division. Russian tarragon ( A. dracunculoides L.) can be grown from seed but is much weaker in flavor when compared to the French variety. However, Russian tarragon is a far more hardy and vigorous plant, spreading at the roots and growing over a meter tall. This tarragon actually prefers poor soils and happily tolerates drought and neglect. It

702-429: Is too cold or dry. In many parts of the world, seasonality is expressed as wet and dry periods rather than warm and cold periods, and deciduous perennials lose their leaves in the dry season. Some perennial plants are protected from wildfires because they have underground roots that produce adventitious shoots, bulbs, crowns , or stems ; other perennials like trees and shrubs may have thick cork layers that protect

741-521: Is used as a side dish in sabzi khordan (fresh herbs), or in stews and Persian-style pickles, particularly khiar shoor (pickled cucumbers). Tarragon is one of the four fines herbes of French cooking and is particularly suitable for chicken, fish, and egg dishes. Tarragon is the main flavoring component of Béarnaise sauce . Fresh, lightly bruised tarragon sprigs are steeped in vinegar to produce tarragon vinegar. Pounded with butter, it produces an excellent topping for grilled salmon or beef. Tarragon

780-686: Is used in a variation of the traditional nut roll sweet cake, called potica . In Hungary , a popular chicken soup is flavored with tarragon. Gas chromatography / mass spectrometry analysis has revealed that A. dracunculus oil contains predominantly phenylpropanoids such as estragole (16.2%), methyl eugenol (35.8%), and trans -anethole (21.1%). The other major constituents were terpenes and terpenoids , including α- trans -ocimene (20.6%), limonene (12.4%), α-pinene (5.1%), allo -ocimene (4.8%), methyl eugenol (2.2%), β-pinene (0.8%), α-terpinolene (0.5%), bornyl acetate (0.5%) and bicyclogermacrene (0.5%). The organic compound capillin

819-529: Is used to flavor a popular carbonated soft drink in Armenia , Azerbaijan , Georgia (where it originally comes from), and, by extension, Russia , Ukraine and Kazakhstan . The drink, named Tarkhun , is made out of sugar, carbonated water, and tarragon leaves which give it its signature green color. Tarragon is one of the main ingredients in Chakapuli , a Georgian national dish. In Slovenia , tarragon

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858-446: The advantage of generating larger seedlings that can better compete with other plants. Perennials also produce seeds over many years. An important aspect of cold acclimation is overexpression of DNA repair genes. In Thinopyrum intermedium a perennial relative of common wheat Triticum aestivum , conditions of freezing stress were shown to be associated with large increases in expression of two DNA repair genes (one gene product

897-851: The characteristic aroma is largely absent. Informal names for distinguishing the variations include "French tarragon" (best for culinary use) and "Russian tarragon". Tarragon grows to 120–150 centimetres (4–5 feet) tall, with slender branches. The leaves are lanceolate , 2–8 cm (1–3 in) long and 2–10 mm ( 1 ⁄ 8 – 3 ⁄ 8  in) broad, glossy green, with an entire margin . The flowers are produced in small capitula 2–4 mm ( 1 ⁄ 16 – 3 ⁄ 16  in) diameter, each capitulum containing up to 40 yellow or greenish-yellow florets . French tarragon, however, seldom produces any flowers (or seeds). Some tarragon plants produce seeds that are generally sterile . Others produce viable seeds. Tarragon has rhizomatous roots that it uses to spread and readily reproduce. French tarragon

936-539: The chervil, doubtless because especially in the United States, chervil, unless home-grown, can be very hard to obtain when fresh and is nearly useless when dried. In general, definitions of the fines herbes group in American cook books have tended to be somewhat elastic. James Beard's Fireside Cookbook (1949), for example, contains a recipe for what he calls a "Fines Herbes Bowl", a dip featuring chopped parsley, chives, dill , chopped green pepper, and salt, mixed into

975-510: The dormancy period is over and new growth begins. In climates that are warm all year long, perennials may grow continuously. Annuals which complete their life cycle in one growing season, in contrast with perennials, produce seeds as the next generation and die; the seeds may survive cold or dry periods or germinate soon after dispersal depending on the climate. Some perennials retain their foliage year-round; these are evergreen perennials. Deciduous perennials shed all their leaves part of

1014-405: The genus name derivative. Perennial Perennials (especially small flowering plants ) that grow and bloom over the spring and summer, die back every autumn and winter, and then return in the spring from their rootstock or other overwintering structure, are known as herbaceous perennials . However, depending on the rigours of the local climate (temperature, moisture, organic content in

1053-541: The growing season, and can grow taller than annuals. In doing so they can better compete for space and collect more light. Perennials typically grow structures that allow them to adapt to living from one year to the next through a form of vegetative reproduction rather than seeding. These structures include bulbs , tubers , woody crowns, rhizomes , turions , woody stems, or crowns which allows them to survive periods of dormancy over cold or dry seasons; these structures typically store carbohydrates which are used once

1092-439: The herbs be finely chopped using a sharp knife rather than a food processor, "since food processors slice into herbs and introduce a lot of air and therefore aroma-altering oxygen." A living tradition, such as cooking, is always subject to variation and re-creation. For example, in his memoirs, the late Pierre Franey , former chef at Le Pavillon and long-time New York Times columnist, vividly recalled his trepidation when as

1131-620: The hormones produced due to environmental situations (i.e., seasons), reproduction, and stage of development to begin and halt the ability to grow or flower. There is also a distinction between the ability to grow and the actual task of growth. For example, most trees regain the ability to grow during winter but do not initiate physical growth until the spring and summer months. The start of dormancy can be seen in perennial plants through withering flowers, loss of leaves on trees, and halting of reproduction in both flowering and budding plants. Perennial species may produce relatively large seeds that have

1170-530: The more completely perennial vegetables are: Many aquatic plants are perennial even though many do not have woody tissue. Examples include: Fines herbes Fines herbes ( French: [fin.z‿ɛʁb] ) designates an important combination of herbs that forms a mainstay of French cuisine . The canonical fines herbes of French haute cuisine comprise finely chopped parsley , chives , tarragon , and chervil . These are employed in seasoning delicate dishes, such as chicken, fish, and eggs, that need

1209-399: The only aromatic note. This error is too widespread for us to hope to overturn it. Nevertheless, it should be stressed that an omelette aux fines herbes must contain: parsley, chives, and a little chervil and tarragon. Thirty-five years later, under the entry "Fines Herbes", the authoritative Larousse Gastronomique of 1938 conceded that, generally speaking, an Omelette aux fines herbes

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1248-445: The planet Jupiter . Perennial plants can be short-lived (only a few years) or long-lived. They include a wide assortment of plant groups from non-flowering plants like ferns and liverworts to highly diverse flowering plants like orchids , grasses , and woody plants . Plants that flower and fruit only once and then die are termed monocarpic or semelparous ; these species may live for many years before they flower. For example,

1287-442: The salad herbs", noting parenthetically, however, that "some people like to use a little thyme or rosemary." Finally, the basis of the French fines herbes lineup: parsley, although not one of Beard's aforementioned "noble" salad herbs, yet "adds much to many salad mixtures, although in a green salad it has perhaps less place." The "fines herbes" are sometimes contrasted with the more pungent or resinous "robust herbs" that appear in

1326-465: The seed yield of perennial species, which could result in the creation of new perennial grain crops. Some examples of new perennial crops being developed are perennial rice and intermediate wheatgrass . A perennial rice developed in 2018, was reported in 2023, to have provided a similar yield to replanted annual rice when evaluated over eight consecutive harvests. Perennial plants dominate many natural ecosystems on land and in fresh water, with only

1365-405: The soil, microorganisms), a plant that is a perennial in its native habitat, may be treated by a gardener as an annual and planted out every year, from seed, from cuttings, or from divisions. Tomato vines, for example, live several years in their natural tropical/ subtropical habitat but are grown as annuals in temperate regions because their above-ground biomass does not survive the winter. There

1404-431: The stems. Herbaceous perennials from temperate and alpine regions of the world can tolerate the cold during winter. Perennial plants may remain dormant for long periods and then recommence growth and reproduction when the environment is more suitable, while most annual plants complete their life cycle during one growing period, and biennials have two growing periods. The meristem of perennial plants communicates with

1443-439: The year. Deciduous perennials include herbaceous and woody plants; herbaceous plants have stems that lack hard, fibrous growth, while woody plants have stems with buds that survive above ground during dormancy. Some perennials are semi-deciduous, meaning they lose some of their leaves in either winter or summer. Deciduous perennials shed their leaves when growing conditions are no longer suitable for photosynthesis, such as when it

1482-558: Was initially isolated from Artemisia capillaris in 1956. cis -Pellitorin , an isobutyramide eliciting a pungent taste, has been isolated from the tarragon plant. The plant is commonly known as dragon in Swedish and Dutch. The use of Dragon for the herb or plant in German is outdated. The species name, dracunculus , means "little dragon", and the plant seems to be so named due to its coiled roots. See Artemisia for

1521-490: Was still most frequently being seasoned only with chopped parsley, but repeated Escoffier's admonition that it ought to contain a combination of fragrant herbs, "such as, parsley, chervil, tarragon, and also chives." For in former times this was the traditional practice ( la pratique ancienne ), when "to the aforementioned herbs, chopped mushrooms, and even truffles , would be added." Julia Child also echoes Escoffier: "A mixture of fresh parsley, chives, tarragon, and chervil

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