Honewort, Cryptotaenia canadensis

Honewort is abundant in wooded areas along streams, forest edges, and shady spots in yards and suburban areas.  It can be found in high-quality, undisturbed habitats, as well as disturbed areas around humans.

Look for it in silty areas of forested floodplains, or coming up in hedges.

Honewort ideally prefers part shade and moist conditions, and a loamy soil rich in organic matter.  However, I've found it to be a highly adaptable plant, and I have been able to grow it in a wide range of soils and sun exposures.  It is among the most shade-tolerant of herbs, and it is also tolerant of soggy soils and compacted soils, as well as disturbed areas with nutrient-poor soils.  With sufficient moisture and good soil, it can also be grown in sunnier exposures.

In my herb garden, I like to plant it in the back of flower beds, up against the house, behind other, sun-loving herbs.  It does well in borders and near buildings.

Honewort is a very close relative of Mitsuba, also called Japanese Parsley.  You can use the plants interchangeably.  Mitsuba's scientific name is Cryptotaenia japonica, placing it in the same genus as honewort.  Some taxonomists even consider them different varieties of the same species.

In North America, I recommend planting honewort and not planting mitsuba, because mitsuba can become invasive, whereas honewort is already part of the ecosystems here.

Identification: I have not been able to find a reliable botanical key or source for reliable ways to distinguish between the two species, but in my experience, one easy-to-see characteristic is to count the number of flowers per umbel.  Honewort usually has far more flowers per umbel, often 5-9 or sometimes more, whereas Mitsuba often only has 3-5.  Also the petals on Mitsuba are usually bolder looking, whereas the petals of Honewort are more likely to curl at the ends.  The flowers look smalle, more lace-like, and more abundant on honewort.  Examples: mitsuba flowers vs honewort flowers.  The leaf shape is also different but this characteristic is harder to use because honewort is so highly variable in leaf shape.  One feature I've noticed is that mitsuba tends to have wider, stubbier leaves higher up on the plant, whereas leaves higher up on honewort tend to be more narrow or slender.  The leaf margins on honewort also tend to look more irregularly toothed than on mitsuba.

The leaves of honewort are the part of the plant that I like to use most.  They are broad and thin, especially when grown in shade, and tend to stay relatively tender, even later in the growing season when many plants are too tough to eat.  Unlike many carrot-family herbs, honewort leaves do not become unpalatably bitter when the plant blooms.  But, being a perennial, if you grow this plant, you will also typically have access to both first-year plants, which do not bloom, and older plants.

The flavor is a little like parsley, celery, and cilantro.  I find it often tastes naturally slightly sweet, and has a fresh, light taste.

You can also use the seeds as a spice.

Be very careful with plant ID if obtaining this plant from the wild.  Plants in this family can be hard to identify, and there are many deadly poisonous plants in the same family.

The tiny flowers of this plant attract a variety of small bees and flies, and even some beetles.  Although insects usually do not cause major damage to the leaves, there are leaf and flower beetles that eat this species, as well as aphids, leaf-mining fly larvae, and a few moths and butterflies, including the black swallowtail, that eat this plant as caterpillars.

The dense cover formed by thickets of this plant can be useful for some small animals.  Deer sometimes eat this plant in small quantities.

Honewort is one of the easiest plants to propagate.  It is a prolific seeder and grows readily from seed.  The seed begins coming ripe in late August in the Mid-Atlantic region, and is usually completely ripe by mid-September.  Seeds are ripe when they have dried completely and the stalks they are on have died.  In many cases, scattering the seed in fall is enough to get this plant established.  Sow thinly because many plants will sprout, requiring some thinning.

Honewort is also very easy to transplant.  It has a taproot, but, like most carrot-family plants, the taproot is sturdy and not easily disturbed.  Because it is such a prolific seeder, you will likely find areas in the wild where there is so much of it that you can dig up a few plants without disturbing anything.  Transplanted plants readily establish themselves and start growing within a few weeks.  If you transplant the plant from deep shade to sun, or vice versa, expect the leaves to die back as the plant grows new leaves adapted to the changed lighting conditions.

First-year plants will typically not grow seed, only leaves, so if you want stalks or seed, you'll need to wait a second year.

Never transplant a native plant from the wild unless it is abundant!!!  Also, take care to not leave disturbed soil.  The best place to obtain honewort plants are from lawns and parks, on the borders of paths where people mow regularly, and the plants are likely to be killed anyway.