Cow parsley

Cow parsley, a humble name for such a beautiful plant! If this plant were less common, I’m sure that it would attract great attention, but that, in its democracy, it dominates woodland, grassland, wasteland and almost every roadside verge in the country, it somewhat becomes hidden in full view when it, in case we hadn’t realised yet, announces that spring is fully here! Come the end of May though, it’s pretty much gone, but not before starting the successional march of the umbels for the year as it hands on the baton to hogweed. 

The common names of Anthriscus sylvestris range from the unassuming to the, well, mildly terrifying. The name cow parsley’s origin is somewhat unclear, it may be that it is a slightly derogatory reference to being an inferior version of another plant, in this case culinary garden parsley Petroselinum crispum, similar to the prefix ‘dogs’ meaning ‘false’ or ‘bad’ with other wild flowers such as dog’s mercury being poisonous and so inferior to Good King Henry Chenopodium bonus-henricus, also known as mercury. Of course it could just look like garden parsley and grow in the fields where cows are. 

Cow parsley is in fact more closely related to chervil Anthriscus cerefolium, a much more recent introduction from south-eastern europe. Cow parsley isn't in fact ‘bad’ though in this sense, as it is not poisonous but is, as one of its other names - mother die - would suggest, made malignant by association as many plants in the Apiaceae family, formerly known as the much more understandable Umbelliferae referring to the inflorescence shape of an umbrella, are. 

Cow parsley is not easy to tell apart from its toxic cousins, hemlock Conium maculatum and  hemlock water-dropwort nicknamed ‘poison parsnip’ Oenanthe crocata and as the common name would suggest is especially similar to fool’s parsley Aethusa cynapium, the name mother die, which until researching this I was unaware of, is most likely a caution to children of the danger in picking plants, as was the custom to make pea shooters.

The rather more descriptive and sympathetic name Queen Anne’s lace falls in close behind cow parsley in its popularity and probably refers to the lacy flowers that Queen Anne’s ladies would encounter on their walks with their lace pillows when they visited the country to give the Queen respite from her asthma. 

Anthriscus sylvestrus must be up there amongst the wild plants for having the most common names, including but not restricted to the afore mentioned cow parsley, mother die and Queen Anne’s lace are also lady’s lace, lady’s needlework, fairy lace, Spanish lace, kex, kecksie, queque (mainly in Lincolnshire), mummy die, step-mother, grandpa's pepper, hedge parsley, badman’s oatmeal, blackman’s tobacco, rabbit meat, Devil’s parsley, gypsy laces and cow chervil!

Along with being, in my opinion, aesthetically beautiful, cow parsley supports 39 plant eating invertebrates including 6 species of beetle, 9 aphis and 5 flies, 10 micro moths and 9 larger moths including the wonderfully named, white-spotted pug, golden-rod pug, double-striped pug, twin-spot carpet, single-dotted wave, double, square-spot, gold spangle, plain golden Y and beautiful golden Y.

It is also recorded as being visited by an incredible 238 pollinating insects.

As of now, if I had to pick one, I would probably say that this was my favourite wildflower. Though if you asked me next month..