Chervil or Parsley: how to tell them apart?
Chervil and Parsley look alike and are often mixed up. Here is how to tell them apart, feature by feature, with their photos and the details to look for.
⚡ The quick answer
Chervil
Anthriscus cerefolium
Parsley
Petroselinum crispum
Aromatic, divided green foliage fairly similar within the carrot family. Parsley has firmer, glossier leaves; chervil has finer, more tender, lighter green leaves with an aniseed scent.
🍃 Leaves
Very finely divided, tender leaves, light green, with an aniseed scent
Divided, flat or curled depending on variety, bright green, very aromatic
🌸 Flowers
Small white flowers in simple, inconspicuous umbels
Small, greenish-yellow, grouped in umbels, appearing in the 2nd year
🍎 Fruits
Small, elongated, smooth black achenes
Small, oval, ribbed achene, typical of the Apiaceae
🪵 Bark
Hollow, upright herbaceous stem, finely striated
Hollow, ridged herbaceous stem, upright in the 2nd year when it runs to seed
📏 Size
20 to 60 cm tall
20 to 30 cm as a rosette, up to 80 cm in flower
🗺️ Habitat
Vegetable gardens, waste ground, track verges
Grown in vegetable gardens and herb gardens
⚠️ Toxicity
Non-toxic; a classic culinary herb, but can be confused with toxic members of the carrot family (fool's parsley) if wrongly identified.
No known toxicity in normal culinary use
🔎 And from the Parsley side
Aromatic, divided green foliage fairly similar within the Apiaceae. Parsley has firmer, glossier leaves, whereas chervil has finer, more tender, paler green leaves with an aniseed scent.
🌿 Go further
Want to practise spotting these details on real photos? Floraneo offers profiles and quizzes for dozens of look-alike species.
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.