Pixel Wild
Cow Parsley
Cow Parsley
Anthriscus sylvestris
Plantae
COMMON

Stats

Lifespan
2-5 yrs
Size
Medium
Diet
Photosynthetic
Biome
Temperate grassland
Range
Europe
Movement
Sessile
Breeding
Seeds
Defense
Toxins
Status
Common

About

Cow parsley is one of the first roadside wildflowers to bloom each spring, carpeting hedgerows and verges with frothy white umbels. It belongs to the carrot family Apiaceae and can attract over 100 insect species — though it closely resembles the deadly poisonous hemlock, making identification a matter of life and death.

Life cycle

  1. 1.
    seed
    A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
  2. 2.
    sprout
    A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
  3. 3.
    sapling
    A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
  4. 4.
    mature
    Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Tracheophyta
Class
Magnoliopsida
Order
Apiales
Family
Apiaceae
Genus
Anthriscus
Species
Anthriscus sylvestris