Sea holly

The sea holly has tough, prickly leaves. This extraordinary pioneer plant can bring exceptional stability to its environment and resist stressful conditions, ultimately adapting to and making the most of them for itself and other species. It can enrich its environment for other organisms and live alongside them in a mutually profitable community, i.e. in symbiosis. It can flourish despite a harsh, salty and windy coastal climate and on sandy areas where its root system helps stabilize and prevent erosion of the dunes. In France, it can be found on the Channel, Atlantic, Mediterranean and Corsican coastlines. The plant, cultivated in gardens since the Middle Ages, was widely harvested in England and Europe between the 17th and 18th centuries. Sea holly – or eryngo – root was long consumed cooked, candied or in the form of flour. It served as food for communities during periods of famine and was also used to flavour marshmallow thanks to the sweet taste of its roots, similar to that of the carrot. In medicine, sea holly has been known since Antiquity as a medicinal plant. Traditionally, it is recognized for its diuretic, pain-relieving, aphrodisiac and also antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.