#chaerophyllum

Plant of the Day

Sunday 30 May 2021

At this time of year many umbellifers are flowering including this distinctive coloured Chaerophyllum hirsutum 'Roseum' (hairy chervil) with tiny lilac-pink flowers making up the umbels. This plant is a tap-rooted perennial with attractively dissected, aromatic foliage that thrives in a fertile soil in sun or partial shade.

Chaerophyllum procumbens, var. shortii

Another classic spring ephemeral as well as a spring annual found in rich mesic hillsides and floodplains of the northeastern portions of the United States, The variation is only ideally figured out by receptacle and fruit. 

Chaerophyllum procumbens var. procumbens, has glabrous fruits/elongating recepticle, while Chaerophyllum procumbens var. shortii has fruits/ elongating recepticle that are finely pubescent. This latter variety is less common in the midwest but is found in a few places as the abundant species as you approach Appalachia and the less disturbed ILP.

The last photograph in this series is fairly close up, you can zoom in to see the small hairs, not to be confused with the bract hairs.

Photographed at Richardson Preserve

Here is a classic woodland spring annual that I am hoping to see more of this year. Spreading Chervil. It’s a bit of a uncommon site in my county and i’ve always been curious why that is. Usually annuals tend to recolonize a well managed forest pretty well but this species doesn’t do that. I took this photo at Richardson Perserve, which has another species of spring annual, the blue eyed mary, and their populations have bounced back significantly