Spiny coriander, Ngo gai, Mexican coriander. Tastes like cilantro. Can be frozen or dried. Used in East Asian, Latin American and Caribbean cuisine. Grows in partial shade. Does not bolt like regular cilantro/coriander. Culantro grows best under well irrigated shaded conditions. Like its close relative cilantro, culantro tends to bolt and flower profusely under hot high-light long days of summer months. Rich in calcium, iron, carotene, and riboflavin, its harvested leaves are widely used as a food flavoring and seasoning herb for meat and many other foods.
Attract lacewings, ladybugs, hoverflies and parasitic mini-wasps to your garden with this plant and they’ll gladly keep garden pests in check for you.
Used as a tea for flu, diabetes, constipation, and fevers. One of its most popular use is in chutneys as an appetite stimulant. The name fitweed is derived from its supposedly anti-convulsant property.