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Cow Parsley

Cow Parsley

Anthriscus sylvestris

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How common: Very common

Cow Parsley is a tall, airy plant with lacy white flower clusters that brighten roadsides and meadows. It has a hollow, grooved stem and very finely divided, triangular leaves. Widespread across Europe and introduced elsewhere, it is a familiar wayside plant.

Did you know?

  • A medium plant can carry up to about 5,000 tiny flowers.
  • The flowers attract many kinds of insects.

About the species

Identification

Tall plant (50–150 cm) that lives for several years. Stems hollow, grooved and branching, often slightly hairy near the base. Leaves triangular in outline and finely divided several times into many narrow pieces; the base of the leaf stalk wraps a little around the stem. Small white flowers in flat to gently rounded clusters. Seeds long, narrow and smooth, shiny dark brown to black (8–10 mm). Lacks the purple-spotted stem of deadly hemlock; wild carrot often has a single dark flower in the center and bristly flower stalks. Sap may irritate skin in sunlight. Flowers in mid-summer (June–July).

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

meadow

Toxicity

Its sap can burn the skin in sunlight – do not touch it with bare hands. Source: HUS Poison Information Centre (Finland), tel. 0800 147 111.

Flowering

Jun–Jul

About the habitat

Grows on nutrient-rich ground in open places or light shade: meadows, field edges, roadsides, yards and forest margins. Common throughout Finland.

Sources

Photo: T. Kebert, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anthriscus sylvestris TK 2021-05-16 2.jpg

Text: Pinkka: Verso- ja leviäintunnistus - Kaikki leviäimet, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39185

Text: Pinkka: Verso- ja leviäintunnistus - Kaikki versot, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39185

Text: Pinkka: Yläkoulun Pinkka - Kulttuuriympäristöt, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39185

Text: Pinkka: BIO-503 Suomen kasvisto ja kasvillisuus - Itämeri: rannikon lehdot, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39185

Text: Pinkka: BIO-516 Hyötykasvit - Kotimaan villivihanneksia ja marjoja, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39185

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koiranputki

See also