Lovage

Lovage (/ˈlʌvɪdʒ/), Levisticum officinale, is a tall perennial plant, the sole species in the genus Levisticum in the family Apiaceae, subfamily Apioideae. It has been long cultivated in Europe, the leaves being used as a herb, the roots as a vegetable, and the seeds as a spice, especially in southern European cuisine.

## Lovage

Image by H. Zell for Wikimedia Commons. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

### Usage

Prevents a corpse from becoming a vampire

Lovage is an erect, herbaceous, perennial plant growing to 1.8–2.5 m (5.9–8.2 ft) tall, with a basal rosette of leaves and stems with further leaves, the flowers being produced in umbels at the top of the stems. The stems and leaves are shiny glabrous green to yellow-green and smell somewhat similar to celery when crushed. The larger basal leaves are up to 70 cm (28 in) long, tripinnate, with broad triangular to rhomboidal, acutely pointed leaflets with a few marginal teeth; the stem leaves are smaller, and less divided with few leaflets. The flowers are yellow to greenish-yellow, 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) diameter, produced in globose umbels up to 10–15 cm (3.9–5.9 in) diameter; flowering is in late spring. The fruit is a dry two-parted schizocarp 4–7 mm (0.16–0.28 in) long, mature in autumn.

The exact native range is disputed; some sources cite it as native to much of Europe and southwestern Asia, others from only the eastern Mediterranean region in southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia, and yet others only to southwestern Asia in Iran and Afghanistan, citing European populations as naturalised. It has been long cultivated in Europe, the leaves being used as an herb, the roots as a vegetable, and the seeds as a spice, especially in southern European cuisine.

The roots, which contain a heavy, volatile oil, are used as a mild aquaretic. Lovage root contains furanocoumarins which can lead to photosensitivity.

### Etymology

A lovage plant beginning to bloom in June, 2.78 m (9 ft 1 in) tall
The name "lovage" is from "love-ache", ache being a medieval name for parsley; this is a folk-etymological corruption of the older French name levesche, from late Latin levisticum, in turn thought to be a corruption of the earlier Latin ligusticum, "of Liguria" (northwest Italy), where the herb was grown extensively. In modern botanical usage, both Latin forms are now used for different (but closely related) genera, with Levisticum for (culinary) lovage, and Ligusticum for Scots lovage, a similar species from northern Europe, and for related species.

#### By Any Other Name

* Bulgarian девесил (devesil)
* Czech libeček meaning "love herb"
* Croatian ljupčac or vegeta (named after Vegeta, a well-known Croatian food seasoning)
* Danish løvstikke
* Dutch one of the common names of lovage is Maggiplant because the plant's taste is reminiscent of Maggi soup seasoning
* Finnish liperi or lipstikka, the former meaning "preacher's collar", because the plant was cultivated in monasteries or in rectories, while the latter is from Swedish, the second language spoken in Finland
* French livèche
* German Liebstöckel but one of the common names of lovage is Maggikraut because the plant's taste is reminiscent of Maggi soup seasoning
* Hungarian lestyán
* Italian levistico or sedano di monte
* Lithuanian gelsvė meaning "yellow"
* Norwegian løpstikke
* Polish lubczyk meaning "love herb"
* Romanian leuştean
* Russian любисток (lyubistok)
* Slovak ligurček
* Slovene luštrek
* Swedish libbsticka
* Turkish yaban kerevizi

### In Vampire Lore

**This section is being worked on.**

At least one author holds (Rosemary Ellen Guiley) that one of the salves used to prepare a corpse for burial should be Lovage as it will stop anyone doomed to rise as an undead from, ya know, sitting up. Rub the body down in such oil and they wont come back.

"Parsley like herb with antivampire properties. In Romanian lore, rubbing a corpse with garlic and lovage will prevent it from becoming a STRIGOI."

It has been speculated that the folk-uses to prevent the undead come from it's known effects as a mild dehydrator  (will make you pee a lot) and the roots contain a chemical that can cause photosensitivity if you eat it too much.

Dried and ground Lovage powders are also used in several Hoodoo and Neo-Pagan rituals as a banishing and protective element. To either close out a ceremony, to prevent bad spirits from coming too close or to kick a ghost out of the house.

### Further Reading

##### References:

1. ↑ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1600-0536.1992.tb00138.x
2. ↑ The Encyclopedia of VAMPIRES, WEREWOLVES, and OTHER MONSTERS page 186 Checkmark Books October 1, 2004
3. ↑ https://www.google.com/books/edition/The\_Encyclopedia\_of\_Vampires\_Werewolves/5soL2qxSBDgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Lovage+in+%22vampire%22+lore&pg=PA187&printsec=frontcover
4. ↑ http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en\_GB/document\_library/Herbal\_-\_Community\_herbal\_monograph/2012/05/WC500126835.pdf

##### Read More:

1. https://michaelweishan.com/gardenblog/?p=2484
2. https://www.flyingthehedge.com/2014/10/uninvited-banishing-spells.html
3. http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en\_GB/document\_library/Herbal\_-\_Community\_herbal\_monograph/2012/05/WC500126835.pdf
4. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1600-0536.1992.tb00138.x
5. http://www.dict.cc/?s=Liebst%C3%B6ckel