Pig Nut (Bunium bulbocastanum)

Family: Apiaceae or Umbelliferae | Edibility: Choice Edible (4/5)

Bunium bulbocastanum is a PERENNIAL growing to 0.6 m (2ft) by 0.3 m (1ft in). See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 5 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from June to July, and the seeds ripen from July to August. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Insects. The plant is self-fertile.

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Leaves, Roots/Tubers

Harvest Seasons: Early Summer, Fall, Late Summer, Spring, Winter

Flavor & Culinary Uses

delicious taste very much like sweet chestnuts when cooked, but the tubers are very small and fiddly to harvest. — Root - raw or cooked.; A delicious taste very much like sweet chestnuts when cooked, but the tubers are very small and fiddly to harvest.; Seed and flowers.; Used as a flavouring, they are a cumin substitute.

Habitat & North American Range

Rough grassland and banks on chalk. (Zone 4, Zone 5, Zone 6, Zone 7, Zone 8)