Flora of New Zealand Series

wild parsley

Erect, glabrous, aromatic, biennial. Stems ± solid, striate, up to 1 m high. Basal lvs 2-(3)-ternate or pinnate, petiolate; ultimate segments ovate-cuneate, lobed and crenate, crispate in cvs, c. 10-30 mm long, sessile or petiolulate; stem lvs reduced toward apex with narrow-oblanceolate, often entire or lobed, but not serrate, segments. Umbels 2-10 cm diam.; rays 7-20; bracts 1-4, entire or 3-lobed; bracteoles 5-12, linear to spathulate, entire or rarely 2-3-lobed. Fls numerous, greenish yellow, c. 2 mm diam. Fr. broadly ovoid, 2.5-3 mm long, grey-brown with lighter ribs.

N.: scattered localities in Northland and Bay of Plenty, Auckland City, locally common in Wellington Province; S.: coastal Marlborough, N. Canterbury, Christchurch and Banks Peninsula, N. Otago, Dunedin, and collected once from Cobden (near Greymouth); St.: Halfmoon Bay.

Origin uncertain, probably S.E. Europe or W. Asia 1867

Locally abundant, waste places, gardens, forest margins, coastal areas.

FL Sep-May.

The forms cultivated as a herb are selections of the same sp., usually with crispate lvs. Cultivation escapes quickly revert to the wild form.