Aiku,

Chances are it will. There's no way to know for sure unless you can track down exactly where it came from and they could tell you specifically what variety it is. Keep in mind that it probably is quick to bolt if grown for corriander seeds. If you're wanting cilantro, you're better off going with a slow bolting variety.

Thanks Violet!

Uh, what does "quick to bolt" mean?

-- Aiku

Hi Aiku,

'Uh, what does "quick to bolt" mean?'
It means it'll flower and set seeds early. And you wouldn't want that if you want leaves.

Hi Aiku,

Yes, Helen is correct. When a plant "bolts" it is producing flowers and seeds prematurely, before it develops its crop. Many "cold" (spring/cooler weather) crops are subject to bolting. This can be caused by early planting, rapid temperature changes, hot temperatures, cool temperatures, and over fertilization with hot manures.

For a plant cultivated for its leaves, like basil, bolting is an unwanted action. Such plants like cilantro are often bred into "slow bolting" cultivars.

Think of the change in leaves much like the change in leaves on trees in the fall. They get tough. A plant's only mission in life, just like all life is to perpetuate the species. For cilantro, that is producing seed. Once it starts to do that, the life of the plant becomes much shorter. So, the longer you can prevent it by planting a slow bolting variety or constantly picking off the stems (especially the central, seed producing stem) then the longer it will produce leaves for you to harvest. (This is why it is good to harvest herbs regularly.)

:)

would you believe ~ tee hee ~ all this time I incorrectly imagined that bolting meant that when plants didn't get enough light, they grew really fast (hence the term "bolt") to get closer to the sun, and as a consequence, developed really long and skinny necks. I wonder how many other things I think I know and turn out I don't!

Thank you Helen and Violet!

coriander and cilantro and Chinese parsley are all the same. the distinction is between coriander seed and green/fresh coriander. With a perfectly adequate common name for this plant, why do we need to call it anything else. Cilantro displaced Chinese parsley. What's next? Why not kothmir or kothamalli based on statistical number of users? I realise that this isn't an answer to your query, but a mini-rant.

nixindica,

In some countries, coriander and cilantro both refer to the plant, not the seed. In the USA, coriander refers to the seed as a spice, and cilantro refers to the plant as an herb, very few Americans will ever call it Chinese parsley.

Perhaps with communications such as the internet which is bringing people in the world closer together, it will be more possible to come to universal agreements, but in the botanical world, that is what the Latin/Scientific/Botanical name is for.

Check out the FAQ for this forum for more regarding this issue.

As with most of the vegetables discussed here, many of the same plants have multiple common names. These names differ not only due to different countries and thier Languages, but also from different regions and communities within a country.

Humans have a tendency to call something by a name with which they grew up with as a child. This will likely not change anytime soon, just makes the world more interesting...

;)

Violet,
Then Corriander will be referred as Dhana or Dhania ( seeds)and Cilantro as Kothmir ( equivalent terms ) in Indian subcontinent.
It will be interesting to how these terms are known in different parts of the world.

chiman

Chiman... here you go! This is by no means a complete list...

; )
Albanian
Koriandër e kultivuar
Amharic
Dimbilal
Arabic
Kuzbara, Kazbarah
Armenian
Kinj
Bengali
Dhoney
Bulgarian
Koriandur
Burmese
Nan nan zee (fruits), Nan nan bin (herb), Naunau
Catalan
Celià ndria, Coriandre
Chinese
Yan Shi, Fan Yan Sui, Yuen sai, Wan-Swee, heong choy(herb), Hu sui (fruits)
Croatian
Korijandar
Czech
Koriandr
Danish
Coriander
Dutch
Ketoembar, Koriander
English
Coriander, Chinese parsley, Indian parsley (herb)
Esperanto
Koriandro
Estonian
Aedkoriander, Koriander
Farsi
Geshniz
Finnish
Korianteri
French
Coriandre, Punaise mâle, Persil arabe
Gaelic
Coireiman, Lus a choire
Georgian
Khinji
German
Koriander, Wanzenkümmel, Chinesische Petersilie, Indische Petersilie (herb)
Greek
?????????, ?????????, ?????????
Â
Koliandro, Koriantro, Koriandro
Gujrati
Dhane, Dhana (fruits), Kothmir (herb)
Hebrew
Gad, Kusbara
Hindi
Dhania , dhanya(fruits), Hara dhania (herb)
Hungarian
Koriander, Cigánypetrezselyem, Beléndf?, Zergef?
Icelandic
Kóríander
Indonesian
Ketumbar (fruits), Daun ketumbar (herb)
Italian
Coriandolo
Japanese
Koyendoro, Koendoro (herb)
Latvian
Kinzas, Koriandrs
Laotian
hong pomn
Lithuanian
Kalendra
Kannada
Havija, Kambari
Khmer
Vannsui, Chi van-suy
Laotian
Phak hom pom, phak hom pam (herb)
Malay
Ketumbar (fruits), Daun ketumbar, Wansui (herb), Penjilang
Malayalam
Kottamalli
Marathi
Dhanya, Dhane (fruits), Kothimbir (herb)
Norwegian
Koriander
Pahlawi
Gishniiz
Pashto
Gashneez
Polish
Kolendra siewna
Portuguese
Coentro
Romanian
Coriandru
Russian
Kinza, Kishnets (herb); Koriandr (fruits)
Sanskrit
Dhaniyaka, Kustumburi
Singhalese
Kotthamallie
Slovak
Koriander
Slovenian
Koriander
Spanish
Coriandro, Cilantro, Cilandrio, Culantro
Swahili
Giligilani
Swedish
Koriander
Tagalog
Kulantro, Unsuey, Wansuey, Uan-soi (herb)
Tamil
Kothamalli
Telugu
Dhaniyalu, Kotimiri
Thai
Pak chi met, Phak hom, Phak Cheethai (herb), Mellet pak chi (fruits)
Tibetan
Sona pentsom, So na pad tshom
Turkish
Ki?ni?, Ki?nic
Ukrainian
Koriandr posyvnyj
Urdu
Dhania
Vietnamese
Mui, Ngo, Ngo ta, Ngò Rí(herb)

For more on the etymology of the word, see these websites:

Spice Dictionary (Scroll Down to Etymology)

More

Aiku,

Sometimes you intentionally don't want a plant to receive light. This is called blanching... as in blanched garlic chives often called "golden needles" which are more expensive than regular garlic chives at the produce stand.

Also blanched asparagus (white asparagus) at the store. It's not green because the plant wasn't allowed to photosynthesize.

I'm reading this thread with great interest, as I recently moved to the East coast from San Diego. Cilantro is a very prevalant herb in most Baja Mexican dishes, and I love it's distinct flavor. Since we're now in an area where I can actually grow a garden, I wanted to plant some cilantro. My sister came back from the nursery with coriander. I could tell by looking at it that it wasn't what I was used to cooking with, the leaves are very narrow, almost like rosemary leaves. Later, I bought a cilantro plant, with nice, broad leaves, like I'm used to. I planted it right next to the coriander. Now they're the same height, and the cilantro leaves which are higher on the plant, look very similar to the coriander, but those which are lower, look like the cilantro I bought from the store. They taste the same. If it's in fact the same plant, I wonder why the different appearance? Understand, I'm very new to gardening, so there is a LOT I have to learn. So far though, I'm very, very pleased with my vegetables.

scratchmonkey,

It's a bit difficult without pics. Can you post some?

There are many varieties of cilantro (the plant). There are also many plants that taste like cilantro which grow much better in warmer climates.

It might be easier for everyone reading the thread to keep any "plants" to be called "cilantro" and any "seeds" to be called "coriander". It's simply too confusing otherwise.

violet_z6,

I can post some pics, unfortunately, it will have to wait about a week. I'm back to San Diego for a week, on business. (I have a terrific neighbor who agreed to watering my herbs, veggies, and potted plants.) So when I get back, I'll post some pics. (presuming I can figure out how to do it!)

Thanks!,

scratch

For those of you who use lots of cilantro and live in hot climates, culantro makes a great substitute. It tastes and smells like cilantro, but looks very different. It tolerates extreme heat really well - it even survives Florida summers - and very few herbs can do that.

I think i still have some seeds if anyone wants some. E-mail me.

Joyce

Aha! Now I know ... Cilantro is Chinese parsley.
We used to just call it Parsley or Hiong Choy (Cantonese) or Pang Chye (Hokien) in Singapore, then I see it in Publix & Walmart (FL) labelled Cilantro. I've been chewing on Cilantro & 'US Parsley' wondering if I'm all confused with taste, smell, names of herbs, etc - and suddenly reading this post I realise I'm Ok afterall. Thanks.