Chamomile
Besides making a good tea, chamomile is a tasty flower that can be used for much more in cooking—especially in sweet dishes, where its unique aroma adds great depth.
-
Where to Find It
You can find chamomile throughout Denmark. It thrives in dry soil and prefers full sun. It often grows in clay soil at the edge of cultivated woods, and on dry roadsides.
Salt marshes, hedges, roadsides, grasslands.
-
When to Find It
You'll find chamomile from July until early September.
Flowers and leaves: July, August, September.
-
How to Spot It
Chamomile typically grows to between 10 and 50 cm, and has leaves that resemble thick dill fronds. The flowers, which look like an old-fashioned airplane propeller, have a yellow, domed head encircled by white, oblong petals. It often grows in small clusters, and you'll generally smell chamomile before you see it.
-
How to Pick It
People normally just use the flower, but you can also take the leaves. Pick the flower heads or cut off the top half of the plant—but no more—to ensure that it can continue growing.
Risk of misidentifying the plant
Chamomile can be confused with scentless chamomile, which doesn't have the aromatic scent of common chamomile. Scentless chamomile is not toxic, but has no value as an edible plant.
