How do you recognise Fool's parsley (Aethusa cynapium)?

Leaf

Stefan.lefnaer, Wikimedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Fool's parsley

Aethusa cynapium L.

Also known as: Poison parsley, Fool's cicely

Family: Apiaceae

30 cm to 1 m tall

Vegetable gardens, crops, rubble, waste ground

Flowering: July – September

Full sun

Part shade

Hardy to about -30°C

❓ How do you recognise this plant?

Its foul smell when crushed and the long, drooping bracts beneath the umbels are good clues for telling it apart from parsley and chervil, but no single criterion is infallible — if in the slightest doubt, never eat it. Fool's parsley gives off a foul, unpleasant smell when crushed, very different from the aniseed scent of chervil, and bears long, drooping bracts beneath each umbel that chervil does not have. These are good clues, but if in the slightest doubt, never eat a wild member of the Apiaceae.

🍃 Leaves

Finely divided, soft, resembling those of chervil or parsley, giving off a foul smell when crushed

🌸 Flowers

Small white flowers in umbels, with long, drooping bracteoles beneath each umbellule

🍎 Fruits

Small, strongly ribbed, ovoid fruits

🪵 Bark

Annual herbaceous plant with a hollow, ridged stem, often marked with reddish lines at the base

🗺️ Distribution

Europe, Asia, North Africa; very common in France, often as a weed of gardens and crops

🐝 Value for pollinators

Small flowers of little attraction to pollinators

✂️ Horticultural uses

None; a weed to be removed from vegetable gardens, particularly near parsley and chervil crops

⚠️ Possible toxicity

Toxic in all its parts (leaves, flowers, fruits), contains alkaloids similar to those of hemlock. Causes digestive and neurological disorders if ingested. Never eat a wild member of the Apiaceae without absolute certainty of its identification.

⚠️ Look-alike species

Fool's parsley

Aethusa cynapium

Chervil

Anthriscus cerefolium

Fool's parsley gives off a foul, unpleasant smell when crushed, very different from the aniseed scent of chervil, and bears long, drooping bracts beneath each umbel that chervil does not have. These are good clues, but if in the slightest doubt, never eat a wild member of the Apiaceae.

Fool's parsley

Aethusa cynapium

Parsley

Petroselinum crispum

Fool's parsley gives off a foul smell when crushed, very different from the fresh smell of parsley, and bears long, drooping bracts beneath each umbel. Never eat a parsley-like plant found growing wild without absolute certainty of its identification.

🌿 Other Apiaceae to discover

ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.

🌱 This database is constantly evolving — species and information are added and corrected regularly. Spotted a mistake? Report it below.