Fools' Parsley

(Aethusa cynapium)

 

Color Photograph: © by and courtesy of Kitty Kahout, Wisconsin State Herbarium

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Fools' Parsley (Aethusa cynapium)

Alien: Introduced from Europe.

Identification: Flowers white, in a small umbel, the umbel subdivided into distinct secondary clusters. Each secondary cluster with a group of hanging bracts. Stems green. Leaves heavily divided and subdivided. Plant poisonous and with a bad smell. Plant 1 to 2.5 feet in height.

Distribution: Southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States, southward to Delaware and Kentucky.

Habitat: This species has a spotty distribution throughout its North America range and is found is disturbed habitats such as fields and roadside ditches.

Flowering period: June to August.

Note: This species is poisonous.

Fool's Parsley (Aethusa cynapium)

Similar Species:

The cluster of hanging bracts below each secondary cluster of flowers in the umbel is a characteristic feature of this species.

Similar Species

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