Kay Easton5/5/04 12:02

In article , Sacha
writes
Kay Easton4/5/04 6:48

In article , Sacha
writes
Kay Easton3/5/04 8:19

In article , Sacha
writes

They're herbs, hence herbaceous. ;-)

Explain bay ;-)

But you cut out my next sentence: "They die down in winter like many
herbs (not all)"

Ah, but bay is a herb but not herbaceous ..that is what I was responding
to.

Hence my "not all"...

But you didn't say not all in
They're herbs, hence herbaceous.
.. that was an absolute statement ;-)

My dictionary's definition of bay doesn't give it as a herb; it describes it
as the "laurel tree, species of Magnolia, Myrica" etc. but calls the bay
leaf "a flavouring agent in cooking". So I suppose it is not to be
considered a herb as in herbaceous which again is defined as "herb: a plant
with a woody stem above ground, distinguished from a tree or shrub: a plant
used in medicine: an aromatic plant used in cookery." "Herbaceous -
pertaining to, composed of, containing, or of the nature of herbs; like
ordinary foliage leaves: usually understood as of tall herbs that die down
in winter and survive in underground parts."
So it would appear that you and all of us would be wrong in calling bay a
herb.

I nearly went back and added 'and what about chives?' ;-)

What about them? You've lost me.

They're herbs, but not herbaceous.
Not all herbs are herbaceous.

Chives are used as a herb but are in fact like the leek and onion. But I
had hoped to assist the original poster by describing the actions of such
plants as he asked about.

For the OP the answer is "yes, tarragon does regrow from its roots."
And it is herbaceous because it has a woody stem, dies down in winter and
grows again in spring/summer. And 'not all' plants called herbs follow
that pattern or botanical description. ;-)


--

Sacha
(remove the weeds to email me)

On Tue, 4 May 2004 18:48:50 +0100, Kay Easton wrote:

I nearly went back and added 'and what about chives?' ;-)

Well, what about chives?


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
[change "atlantic" to "pacific" and
"invalid" to "net" to reply by email]

Xref: kermit uk.rec.gardening:202196

The message
from lid (Rodger Whitlock) contains these words:

On Tue, 4 May 2004 18:48:50 +0100, Kay Easton wrote:

I nearly went back and added 'and what about chives?' ;-)

Well, what about chives?

Somebody who isn't Rusty, please tell me what colour this thread is,
I'm lost...

Janet

In article , Rodger Whitlock
writes
On Tue, 4 May 2004 18:48:50 +0100, Kay Easton wrote:

I nearly went back and added 'and what about chives?' ;-)

Well, what about chives?

A herb in the culinary sense, but not herbaceous.
So doesn't fit with the original premise 'it's a herb so it's
herbaceous
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

In article , Sacha
writes

My dictionary's definition of bay doesn't give it as a herb; it describes it
as the "laurel tree, species of Magnolia, Myrica" etc. but calls the bay
leaf "a flavouring agent in cooking". So I suppose it is not to be
considered a herb as in herbaceous which again is defined as "herb: a plant
with a woody stem above ground, distinguished from a tree or shrub: a plant
used in medicine: an aromatic plant used in cookery." "Herbaceous -
pertaining to, composed of, containing, or of the nature of herbs; like
ordinary foliage leaves: usually understood as of tall herbs that die down
in winter and survive in underground parts."
So it would appear that you and all of us would be wrong in calling bay a
herb.

That gets us back to the problem with so many words that have been
borrowed for use in other fields! If you take the first definition, then
'herb' is a synonym for herbaceous, and would include a whole lot of
things (eg thornapple, foxglove) that you would never dream of using in
cooking ... then you move to the second definition 'a plant used in
medicine' where foxglove would fit in nicely .. and to the third 'an
aromatic plant used in cookery' which definitely fits bay, but has now
moved away from the first definition.

Bit like 'fruit' really.


For the OP the answer is "yes, tarragon does regrow from its roots."
And it is herbaceous because it has a woody stem, dies down in winter and
grows again in spring/summer. And 'not all' plants called herbs follow
that pattern or botanical description. ;-)

Yep! We're agreed :-)


--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

In article ,
Kay Easton wrote:
In article , Rodger Whitlock
writes
On Tue, 4 May 2004 18:48:50 +0100, Kay Easton wrote:

I nearly went back and added 'and what about chives?' ;-)

Well, what about chives?

A herb in the culinary sense, but not herbaceous.
So doesn't fit with the original premise 'it's a herb so it's
herbaceous

Chives aren't herbaceous? If you have any that aren't, please tell
all ....


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article , Nick Maclaren
writes
In article ,
Kay Easton wrote:
In article , Rodger Whitlock
writes
On Tue, 4 May 2004 18:48:50 +0100, Kay Easton wrote:

I nearly went back and added 'and what about chives?' ;-)

Well, what about chives?

A herb in the culinary sense, but not herbaceous.
So doesn't fit with the original premise 'it's a herb so it's
herbaceous

Chives aren't herbaceous? If you have any that aren't, please tell
all ....

In the gardening sense, as opposed to botanical, bulbs aren't what you
think of when you say 'herbaceous'. OK, I grant you they are not trees,
so perhaps they weren't the best counterexample to 'they're herbs and
therefore herbaceous'.

--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

Kay Easton5/5/04 9:42

In article , Nick Maclaren
writes
In article ,
Kay Easton wrote:
In article , Rodger Whitlock
writes
On Tue, 4 May 2004 18:48:50 +0100, Kay Easton wrote:

I nearly went back and added 'and what about chives?' ;-)

Well, what about chives?

A herb in the culinary sense, but not herbaceous.
So doesn't fit with the original premise 'it's a herb so it's
herbaceous

Chives aren't herbaceous? If you have any that aren't, please tell
all ....

In the gardening sense, as opposed to botanical, bulbs aren't what you
think of when you say 'herbaceous'. OK, I grant you they are not trees,
so perhaps they weren't the best counterexample to 'they're herbs and
therefore herbaceous'.

You know what? There is something known as "too much information". To the
OP, yes your Tarragon will grow again from its roots every year, providing
frost and damp haven't killed it.

Now - what do you want to know about Chives? ;-)) BTW, your Lupins are
herbaceous, too. But don't eat them. ;-) And your peonies and your
daffodils and your Salvias - oh wait! - some of those are culinary! It's a
bummer, isn't it?
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds to email me)

In article , Sacha
wrote:

So it would appear that you and all of us would be wrong in calling bay a
herb.

I suspect it was thought of as a herb long before your narrow
definition of a herb was first laid down.

In my view, if it walks like a herb, and quacks like a herb, then it's
a herb.

Lazarus

--
Remover the rock from the email address