Matricaria chamomilla.

There are two chamomiles, and that's the source of just about all the confusion on the subject. Roman chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) is a creeping perennial used mostly as ground cover. This one, German chamomile, is an upright annual, and it's the one found in tea bags the world over. Its name comes from the Greek khamaimêlon, “ground apple,” because the crushed flowers smell of apple.

A delicate herb in the Asteraceae family, famous for its small white flowers with yellow centres and its soothing fragrance. Native to Europe and Western Asia, it has been valued for centuries for its calming properties.

The detail that identifies it for certain: cut a flower head in half vertically. In true German chamomile, the little yellow central cone is hollow. In all the false chamomiles that resemble it, it's solid. It's the test foragers have always used, and it works every time.

For tea, the moment of harvest makes all the difference: pick the heads while the white petals are still horizontal, just after opening. Once they start folding back, the flower has already lost part of its essential oils. In full flower that means going through every day or two, which has the advantage of stimulating new flower production. Dry flat, in the shade and in open air, then keep in an airtight jar.

Grower's tip: the seeds are minute and absolutely need light to germinate: sow on the surface, without covering at all, and mist rather than water. Direct-sow as soon as the soil can be worked, or in fall for early emergence the following spring. It prefers poor soil: too rich and it makes soft stems that flop, and far fewer flowers. Once established it self-seeds faithfully, and a single sowing is enough to keep it in the garden for years.

• Open-pollinated. Self-seeding annual.
• Makes beautiful daisy-like flowers that attract beneficial insects and pollinators.
• Height: 20 to 50 cm depending on the soil.
• Flowering from June until frost if harvested regularly.
• Exposure: full sun.
• Ordinary to poor, well-drained soil. Avoid rich soils, which give soft stems.
• Sow on the surface without covering (light triggers emergence), in spring or fall.