Is there a difference between cilantro and culantro in Spanish?

Question

I've seen the American English "cilantro" (British English "coriander") translated into Spanish as both cilantro and culantro. What is the difference? Are they synonyms used interchangeably, or is the difference regional? If it is a regional difference, where is each word used?

Answer 1

I heard this plant being named cilantro or culantro in different countries across South America:

While the name of its seeds is "coriandro" (a very fragant spice):

Answer 2

Perejil is different.

Perejil = parsley (petroselinum crispum); looks the same as cilantro, but has a much milder, more neutral taste. (Parsley lacks the distinctive "soapiness" of cilantro that people seem to have such strong feelings about.

cilantro = (Amer. English) cilantro/coriander (Coriandrum sativum). Looks like parsley but with a stronger, slightly soapy flavor. Older generations often call it coriander, as it's known in Britain. Younger generations in the U.S. often know it as an ingredient in Thai, Mexican, Latin American, Indian, Vietnamese, etc., cuisine and usually call the leaves "cilantro," although the seeds and the ground spice derived from them are still usually called "coriander" in U.S. English.

culantro = (Eryngium foetidum), a different plant with different-shaped leaves. All three (parsley, cilantro/coriander, and culantro) are related to one another, and culantro's flavor is often described as a much stronger version of cilantro. In some dishes they can be interchangeable, but often they are not.

Their names, however, are somewhat idiosyncratic in Spanish, varying a lot from one region to another and sometimes going by different names entirely.

Answer 3

Cilantro is a different leaf than culantro. I'm in south America and we use culantro. Cilantro is harder to find here and culantro grows wild. Culantro has a stronger flavor but about the same taste as cilantro. They both look completely different. Hope this helps.

Answer 4

I have never heard of that but I found this. Hope it helps (emphasis mine):

Culantro is a completely different plant from cilantro. Although the two are cousins, they look nothing alike and are quite easy to differentiate by appearance.

Culantro, Eryngium foetidum, has long, serrated leaves and sports a blue flower when permitted to bolt. It is the leaves of culantro that are popular in Caribbean and Asian dishes.

Culantro is also often called spiny cilantro and is not as widely available as cilantro. Check with your market's produce manager if you do not see any in with other fresh herbs.