Cicely (Myrrhis odorata [L.] Scop.)

bot	Scandix odorata
Croatian	Čehulja
Czech	Čechřice
Danish	Spansk kørvel
Dutch	Roomse kervel, Vaste kervel
English	Sweet cicely, Anise cicely, Spanish chervil, Sweet chervil, Anise chervil, Garden myrrh, Sweet scented myrrh
Esperanto	Mirido
Estonian	Mesiputk
Finnish	Saksankirveli
French	Cerfeuil d'Espagne, Cerfeuil musqué, Cerfeuil odorant
Gaelic	Cos uisge
German	(Wohlriechende) Süßdolde, Spanischer Kerbel, Myrrhenkerbel
Hungarian	Spanyol turbolya
Icelandic	Spánarkerfill
Italian	Cerfoglio di spagna, Felce muschiata, Finocchiella, Mirride odorosa
Japanese	ミリス, シセリ, スイートシセリ
	Mirisu, Siseri, Suitosiseri
Korean	시슬리, 시실리
	Sisulli, Sisilli
Lithuanian	Kvapioji garduoklė
Norwegian	Spansk kjørvel
Polish	Marchewnik anyżowy
Russian	Миррис душистая, Мускатный кервель
	Mirris dushistaya, Muskatnyj kervel
Slovak	Čechrica voňavá
Slovenian	Dišeči kromač
Swedish	Spansk körvel, Aniskål

Cicely leaf and unripe fruits

Leaves, mostly used fresh. The unripe fruits are a good substitute of anise.

Apiaceae (parsley family)

Strong fragrance, reminiscent to licorice or anise, sweet taste (particularly, the stem). Both fragrance and taste are strongest in the unripe seeds. See also licorice for sweet spices.

Fruits and leaves of several aromatic plants from the parsley family share their fragrance, which might loosely be called “anise-like”. This impression is strongest in cicely, but anise as the best known example is only slightly weaker. On the other hand, the fragrance of fennel is slightly less pure. Chervil combines anise fragrance with parsley-like freshness. Remotely similar to anise is dill, whose aroma is nearer to caraway.

Spices with anise flavour are also known from other plant families. The best-known examples are star anise and licorice, furthermore some Thai basil varieties, tarragon and Mexican tarragon. More obscure spices that can be named in this context are Mexican pepper-leaves and some relatives of sichuan pepper.

Cicely leaves contain an essential oil (0.05%), which is rich in the phenylpropanoids anethole (85%) and methyl chavicol.

The plant is of Western European origin. It is a common garden plant in parts of Western Europe, mainly Scandinavia.

English cicely goes back to the obscure Greek plant name siseli [σισελι]. German Süßdolde “sweet umbel” refers to both the sweet taste and the umbel-shaped flower cluster.

The botanical genus name Myrrhis derives from Greek myrrhis [μυρρίς], which denotes both an unidentified plant and an aromatic oil from Western Asia; it is probably related to Greek myron [μύρον] “balm” (see also nutmeg). The scientific species name odoratus is Latin meaning “scented”.

Comparisons with chervil suggest themselves (e.g., German Myrrhenkerbel “myrrh-chervil”), although I cannot explain the name Spanish chervil occurring in many languages, since the plant originates from North-Western Europe.

Cicely (plants with flowers and unripe fruits)

Nature One Health: Sweet Cicely chemikalienlexikon.de: Anethol