Russian Tarragon

Dual purpose herb, medicinal or culinary, also good ornamental plant. The leaves have a strong tarragon, rather sweet anise flavor and are used in many foods and fish dishes in particular. Leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. The leaves can also be eaten raw in salads but are inferior to A. dracunculus (Tarragon). The Native American Indians would bake the leaves between hot stones and then eat them with salt water. The flavor is said to improve as the plant matures. Also used for flavoring vinegar. Also known as False Tarragon, Dragon Wormwood, Dragon Sagwort.

Russian tarragon can be grown from seed but is much weaker in flavor when compared to the French variety.However, Russian tarragon is a far more hardy and vigorous plant, spreading at the roots and growing over a meter tall. This tarragon actually prefers poor soils and happily tolerates drought and neglect. It is not as strongly aromatic and flavorsome as its French cousin, but it produces many more leaves from early spring onwards that are mild and good in salads and cooked food. Russian tarragon loses what flavor it has as it ages and is widely considered useless as a culinary herb, though it is sometimes used in crafts. The young stems in early spring can be cooked as an asparagus substitute.

A better substitute for French tarragon is Spanish tarragon (Tagetes lucida), also known as Mexican mint marigold, Mexican tarragon, Texas tarragon, or winter tarragon. It is much more reminiscent of French tarragon, with a hint of anise. Although not in the same genus as the other tarragons, Spanish tarragon has a stronger flavor than Russian tarragon that does not diminish significantly with age.