Cilantro leaves taste musky and have a starring role in Asian and Latin American cookery, while the lemony-tasting seeds (also known as coriander) are a key ingredient in Middle Eastern staples.

The seeds’ sweet citrusy tang adds a lively note to otherwise rather tame vegetables, such as cauliflower and parsnips. The root offers a crunchy variation on the foliage’s flavor.

This annual herb’s divided leaves make it look very much like flat-leafed parsley. Its bottom leaves are rounded, while those near the top are smaller and ferny.

Plants grow to about 20 inches (51 cm) — 8 inches (20 cm) wide — and bear flat clusters of small white or pale purple flowers followed by round, beige fruits. Give cilantro rich soil that drains readily and full sun (or light shade in very hot regions). After spring’s last frost date, sow seeds directly in the garden. When they sprout in about two weeks, thin seedlings to 10 inches (25 cm).

If you like, sow successive crops every three weeks into summer. Cilantro bolts (goes to seed) in heat, so Southerners usually plant seeds in fall and give their plants afternoon shade. Harvest plants for leaves when they’re about 6 inches (15 cm) tall.