(Aegopodium podagraria) Ground elder

Aegopodium podagraria (commonly called ground elder, herb gerard, bishop's weed, goutweed, gout wort, and snow-in-the-mountain, and sometimes called English masterwort and wild masterwort) is a perennial plant in the carrot family (Apiaceae) that grows in shady places. The name "ground elder" comes from the superficial similarity of its leaves and flowers to those of elder (Sambucus), which is unrelated. It is the type speciesof the genus Aegopodium. This species is native to Eurasia, and has been introduced around the world as an ornamental plant, where it occasionally poses an ecological threat as an invasive exotic plant.

Description
A. podagraria is perennial, growing to a height of 100 cm (39 in) with rhizomes. The stems are erect, hollow and grooved. The upper leaves are ternate, broad and toothed. Numerous flowers are grouped together in an umbrella-shaped flowerhead known as a compound umbel. The main umbel is further divided into several secondary umbels known as umbellets or umbellules. Each umbellet has 15 to 20 rays (pedicels) that are each topped with a single, small, five-petaled white flower.

The fruits are small and have long curved styles. The flowers are visited by many types of insects, thus being characterised by a generalised pollination system.

Uses as food and medicine
The tender leaves have been used in antiquity and throughout the Middle Ages as a spring leaf vegetable, much as spinach was used. Young leaves are preferred as a pot herb. It is best picked from when it appears (as early as February in the UK) to just before it flowers (May to June). If it is picked after this point, it takes on a pungent taste and has a laxative effect. However, it can be stopped from flowering by pinching out the flowers, ensuring the plant remains edible if used more sparingly as a pot herb.

It also had a history as a medicinal herb to treat gout and arthritis, applied in hot wraps externally upon boiling both leaves and roots together. Ingested, the leaves have a diuretic effect and act as a mild sedative. Its use as a medicinal herb has largely declined during the modern era.

The plant is said to have been introduced into Great Britain by the Romans as a food plant and into Northern Europe as a medicinal herb by monks. It is still found growing in patches surrounding many monastic ruins in Europe, and descriptions of its use are found among monastic writings, such as in Physica by Hildegard von Bingen.
en.wikipedia.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegopodium_podagraria