Plant · P-329

Perilla

Perilla frutescens

Perilla is a warm-season culinary herb grown for far more than its shiso-leaf reputation - seedlings go into salads, mature leaves wrap and garnish food, flowers are fried or used as a garnish, and the seed is pickled, salted, or pressed into a drying oil rich in linolenic acid. It needs steady heat and consistent water, does not tolerate frost, and only flowers once the days shorten in autumn - cutting it back once in early fall removes the whole year's seed crop while leaving a full summer's harvest untouched. It is genuinely toxic to cattle and horses, causing severe respiratory distress and even death, so it belongs in an intensively managed planting near the house rather than anywhere its cuttings could reach hay or pasture.