Meum athamanticum

Meum athamanticum is a glabrous,highly aromatic (aroma compound), perennial plant - the only species (monotypic) in the genus Meum, belonging to the family Apiaceae.Common names in the U.K. include Baldmoney,Spignel,(also Spiknel and Spikenel) and Meu. It is a plant of grassland,often on limestone, in mountain districts of Western Europe and Central Europe,its range extending as far south as the Sierra Nevada (Spain) of Andalucia,and central Bulgaria in the Balkans. It is not a very common plant in the U.K., being found in only a few localities in N. England and N. Wales although a little more plentiful in Scotland - where it is found as far North as Argyll and Aberdeenshire.

Meum has been cultivated in Scotland,where the roots were eaten as a root vegetable.The delicate,feathery foliage has been used as a condiment and in the preparation of a wide variety of home remedies as a diuretic,to control menstruation and uterine complaints and to treat catarrh, hysteria and stomach ailments.