Anthriscus - Cow Parsley & Bur Chevril

Anthriscus sylvestris Cow Parsley

This is a very common flower of spring and early summer on shaded roadsides and similar places.

The distinctive leaves are 2 or 3-pinnate giving them a fern-like appearance. 

Commonest of the early hedgerow umbellifers. Erect, hairy plant with furrowed, unspotted, hollow stem to 1.5m. Has 3-pinnate leaves with acute segments. Can be finely appressed-hairy on upper surface of leaves or glabrous and shiny. Petioles are channelled. Umbels with no bracts but ovate bracteoles with a stiff bristle tip and 6- 12 glabrous rays. Flowers, creamy-white, unequal-sized petals but outer ones are not split. Fruits 6-9mm, rounded, glabrous, smooth.

Anthriscus caucalis Bur Chervil

This is an infrequent annual which occurs on bare earth or sandy areas. It is more scrambling and less erect than A. sylvestris.

It is ± hairless, but the leaves can be hairy below and the inflated petiole bases can have long hairs. It has no bracts and ovate bracteoles. The fruits are smaller (3mm) and turn black with abundant hooked bristles.