Chamomile

Matricaria chamomilla and Chamaemelum nobile

Chamomile is an aromatic flower best known as an infusion plant. The name covers more than one species, with German chamomile and Roman chamomile being the most familiar food and garden types.¹

Chamomile can be grown in Northeast gardens, although the two common species behave differently. German chamomile is a quick annual that can flower through summer and fall, while Roman chamomile is a low perennial. German chamomile is especially useful where a short growing season favors a plant that can be started from seed and harvested in one year.²

German chamomile is a taller annual, while Roman chamomile is a low perennial. Slicing a German chamomile flower head reveals a hollow receptacle, one useful detail for separating it from some similar-looking plants. Both familiar chamomiles are described as apple-scented.²

Roman chamomile, Chamaemelum nobile, and German chamomile, Matricaria chamomilla, have similar uses despite belonging to different genera. Their flower heads—not individual petals alone—are the part ordinarily infused, and chamomile oil is also used to flavor beverages and confectionery.³ The characteristic apple-like impression comes from the aromatic flower oils rather than from sweetness: the flowers are fragrant, lightly fruity, and can become more bitter as they age or are used too heavily.¹

The flower head is a composite structure, with many tiny tubular florets packed into the yellow center and white ray flowers around the edge. That detail helps distinguish chamomile from lookalikes, and it explains why the whole dried head carries more aroma than the white rays by themselves. As with other edible flowers, use plants grown without ornamental pesticides; people sensitive to ragweed relatives can also react to chamomile.⁴