ERYNGOES (Sea Holly)

12th December 2023

Photo credit: jax10289 (Getty Images) via CANVA

My doe with the black scut!

Let the sky rain potatoes,

Let it thunder to the tune of “Greensleeves”,

Hail kissing-comfits, and snow eryngoes;

Let there come a tempest of provocation,

I will shelter me here.

FALSTAFF: Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 5, Scene 5

ERYNGO or Sea Holly (Eryngium maritimum)

Eryngo, or the Sea Holly or Sea Hulver is a plant of the sea shore and the roots were candied to make a popular sweet which was supposed to have health giving and aphrodisias properties.

Colchester was an important centre of Eryngo production from at least the 17th century but herbals such as John Gerard’s (1597)contain information on how to make your own Eryngo remedies.

Sea Holly is the county flower of Liverpool. It is assessed as a species of Least Concern in Britain but was given the status of Near Threatened in England in the 2014 Red List. Eryngiums including the Sea Holly are now valued as beautiful garden plants.

More Information

BSBI Plant Atlas 2020: Sea Holly

John Gerard, 1597 (first edition), The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes (accessed via 1636 edition on archive.org)

Mersea Museum: Mr Great’s House, Kemps Farm