Mutant Cilantro?

[Kim Shook]

Got something that looked peculiar to me in our CSA box last week. It said that it was cilantro, but it looked like two herbs on one plant. Here’s the whole bunch:

This is what each stem looked like on the bottom:

Very cilantro-like.

And the tops all looked like this:

More like fennel fronds or carrot tops. Is all cilantro like this when really fresh? Or was this a particular type of cilantro?

[Emily_R]

In my experience that is normal - its what cilantro looks like just before it "bolts" (as in, right before the plant starts to set seed)...

[Kouign Aman]

Thats cilantro. I've never seen it sold once the frondy leaves develop.

It sprouts, you get those nice spicy flat leaves, then it sort of 'bolts' in a sense, growing the mature frondy leaves, flowering etc. The resulting seeds are ?coriander? I think. Or the start of more cilantro.

Pain to grow because it bolts so darn fast!

[Chris Amirault]

+1. Just wanted to add a note that, at this stage, the stems are usually tender and flavorful, and the roots are to die for. If you've never ground up cilantro root for your pastes or sauces, give it a go!

[Kim Shook]

Thanks so much. Makes a lot of sense. It is staying fresh much, much longer than the store-bought kind. We got this in last Thursdays' box.

[Doodad]

10-4 it is about to bolt. I grow it and here in GA it bolts fast. Flowers and seedheads form on those frondy parts if you leave it in the ground. The frondy parts are not as flavorful to me so I use them as garnish.

[TheTInCook]

Nice info on the bolting. I had no clue it had different leaves as it got older.

I've gotten a stem or two of weed (or so I think) in with my cilantro. Looked kinda like wheat grass.