In summer you will find the Upright Hedge Parsley all over the country,
on hedge-banks and in waste places.
The tiny flowers are white, and are very often tinged with pink. They
grow in clusters on green spokes which rise from the end of the main
stem like the ribs of an umbrella. These green spokes are rough and
hairy, and you will recognise this plant by these rough spokes.
There is a ring of narrow pointed green leaves at the top of the main
stem where all the spokes join, and there are also little leaves at the
back of each cluster of flowers.
In the Upright Hedge Parsley the seed-vessels are different from those
of any of the other umbrella plants in this book. They are a dark pinky
purple in colour, and are covered with short, thick bristles. At the top
of each seed-vessel there are two long, thin bristles which bend over,
very much like those in the Goutweed. You will always be able to
recognise this plant by these bristly, purple seed-vessels.
The leaves of the Upright Hedge Parsley are dark green and hairy. They
are like ferns, and have many divisions, which are cut into teeth all
round the edge.