a common wild edible found in woodlands and hedgerows.

🔍 Key Features of Sweet Cicely 

• Feathery, fern-like leaves, bright green, with a soft and lush appearance

• Leaves are deeply divided and have a frilly or ruffled edge

• Grows in clumps as shown in photo

• When crushed, leaves and stems smell sweet and like aniseed (licorice)

• Usually appears early in spring in shaded or semi-shaded areas

✅ Edibility:

Sweet Cicely is a lovely edible — its leaves, flowers, seeds, and roots are all usable. The leaves are sweet and aromatic, and are sometimes used to sweeten tart fruits like rhubarb. The young green seeds are crunchy and intensely anise-flavored.

⚠️ Caution:

Sweet Cicely looks similar to hemlock, cow parsley, rough chervil, and other umbellifers. The smell is your best test — if it doesn’t smell sweet/anise-like, don’t eat it.

I recommend:

• Crush a leaf gently — does it smell like licorice or anise?

• Check for fine hairs on the leaves and stems (Sweet Cicely is softly hairy)