In the most recent issue of FLS News, no. 66, p.8, 2012,* Bari Hooper suggests that parsley [Petroselinum crispum] was ‘formerly believed to be inimical to the health of parrots’ and records that when the poet Walter Savage Landor (1775-1864) was driven mad by the shrieks of a parrot, he ‘summoned the greengrocer’s boy and gave him a guinea to procure a piece of parsley and administer it to the offending bird.’
Any comments would be appreciated.

*FLS News is the newsletter of the Folklore Society (http:/www.folklore-society.com); other plant-lore items in the current issue include notes on oak in fern and the cancellation of the 2011 World Conker Championships.