Eryngium foetidum

Culantro
Eryngium foetidum leaves, with a US ruler for scale
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Apiales
Family: Apiaceae
Genus: Eryngium
Species:
E. foetidum
Binomial name
Eryngium foetidum
Synonyms
  • Eryngium antihystericum Rottler

Eryngium foetidum is a tropical perennial herb in the family Apiaceae. Common names include culantro (Costa Rica and Panama) (/kˈlɑːntr/ or /kˈlæntr/), cimarrón, recao (Puerto Rico), chardon béni (France), Mexican coriander, samat, bandhaniya, long coriander, Burmese coriander, sawtooth coriander, Shadow Beni (Trinidad and Tobago), and ngò gai (Vietnam). It is native to Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America, but is cultivated worldwide, mostly in the tropics as a perennial, but sometimes in temperate climates as an annual.

In the United States, the common name culantro sometimes causes confusion with cilantro, a common name for the leaves of Coriandrum sativum (also in Apiaceae but in a different genus), of which culantro is said to taste like a stronger version.