# Parsley (Petroselinum crispum)

*Greek *selinon*, *petroselinon**

**Known today as.** *Petroselinum crispum*.

Kind: Plant  
Qualities: Hot and dry (Galenic tradition).  
Poisoning: Hepatotoxic monoterpenes (pulegone) (https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/poisons/hepatotoxic-terpenes)  
Toxic: yes

> **Caution.** The seeds and their oil are toxic in quantity; the leaf is a safe food.

## What was it used for?

To open obstructions of the liver and kidneys, and to provoke urine and the menses.

## What does modern science say?

The seed oil’s apiole and myristicin are toxic in quantity and were used, dangerously, as abortifacients.

## Pharmacognosy and toxicology

- **apiol**: in the seed oil
- **myristicin**: 
- **apigenin**: 

**Mechanism.** Apiol provokes the uterus and in quantity injures the liver and kidneys; it was sold in capsules as an abortifacient into the twentieth century.

**Dose.** The herb is a food; the seed oil in gram doses has killed.

**Standing.** A food; the oil is not approved for any use.

## What lore surrounds it?

“To need only parsley” was a Greek way of saying a man was dying.

English garden lore explained the seed’s notoriously slow germination by saying it must go to the Devil and back seven times, or nine, before it will sprout, so a careful gardener sowed plenty, since the Devil kept the rest. Transplanting parsley, giving away its roots, or having it cut for you were each held to bring bad luck, and it was said to grow best where the woman of the house ruled.

## What did the older authorities say?

**Greek games.** Victors at the Nemean games were crowned with *selinon*, wild celery or parsley.

**Plutarch.** Tells of soldiers dismayed to meet mules loaded with parsley before a battle, since the Greeks garlanded tombs with it.

## Sources

- Plutarch, *Life of Timoleon*.
- Dioscorides, *De materia medica*.
- Garden Betty, “That Devilish Parsley.”
- Ciganda, C., and Laborde, A. (2003). “Herbal infusions used for induced abortion.” *Journal of Toxicology: Clinical Toxicology* 41.

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*Parsley.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-09-25. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/parsley

Historical description, not medical advice.