The World of Apples

The apples that aren't

Chamomile

Chamaemelum nobile, Asteraceae, the daisy family

Roman chamomile is a low-growing perennial herb of the daisy family4, native, by Kew’s account, from the Azores and western Europe to north-western Africa2. Its dried flower heads, like those of the related annual Matricaria, make a herbal tea3.

Both its English name and its botanical one are Greek apples. Chamomile came through Old French and the Late Latin chamomilla from the Latin chamaemēlon and the Greek khamaimēlon: khamai, on the ground, and mēlon, apple3. The Herb Society of America reads the name as describing both the plants’ habit of growing along the ground and “their characteristic apple-like scent”5, and North Carolina’s extension service explains the epithet of German chamomile, Matricaria chamomilla, by its apple-like fragrance6.

The apple survives in other names. Ground-apple is one of the English names of Chamaemelum nobile4, and the Spanish for chamomile, manzanilla, is a diminutive of manzana, apple5,7.

Where the sources disagree

  • Native range. Kew gives the Azores and western Europe to north-western Africa2; North Carolina’s extension service, Europe and western Asia4; the American Heritage Dictionary, Europe and the Mediterranean region3.

Sources

  1. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy: Chamaemelum nobile, Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Supports: the accepted name and family.
  2. Plants of the World Online: Chamaemelum nobile, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Supports: the accepted name and the native range, "Azores, W. Europe to NW. Africa".
  3. chamomile, American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, fifth edition, HarperCollins, 2022. Supports: an aromatic perennial herb native to Europe and the Mediterranean region; the dried flower heads, and those of the related annual Matricaria, used for herbal tea; the derivation through Old French and Late Latin chamomilla from Latin chamaemēlon and Greek khamaimēlon, from khamai, on the ground, and mēlon, apple.
  4. Chamaemelum nobile, North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, NC State University. Supports: a low-growing perennial herb of the daisy family, native to Europe and western Asia; its common names, among them ground-apple and manzanilla.
  5. 2025 Herb of the Year, Chamomile, Herb Society of America, Potomac Unit. Supports: chamomile and Chamaemelum as "earth apple", for the plants' habit of growing along the ground and "their characteristic apple-like scent"; Spanish manzanilla meaning small apple.
  6. Matricaria chamomilla, North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, NC State University. Supports: the epithet chamomilla as "earth apple", because of the apple-like fragrance.
  7. manzanilla, Wiktionary. Supports: Spanish manzanilla, camomile, from manzana, apple, with a diminutive suffix.