NEN Gallery

An upright plant with purple spotted stems covered with short stiff hairs. The leaves are divided into two or three lobes and are downy on both sides. The flowers form on stalks of different lengths giving an umbrella-shaped head. The white flowers have notched petals. The plant is poisonous and can cause staggering and vertigo. This plant flowers midway between two other parsleys, flowering after Cow Parley and before Hedge Parsley. It flowers June-July. There is also a conspicuous swelling where the leaf stalk joins the stem and the red spot on the stem that help in its recognition. It grows at woodland edges and in hedgebanks. Picture taken June 15th 2006 at Maulden, Bedfordshire.