Anthriscus caucalis M. Bieb.

Burr Chervil

© SRTurner

Family - Apiaceae

Habit - Annual forb.

Stems - 40-90 cm long, erect or ascending, glabrous or sparsely short-hairy.

Leaves - Alternate, compound, pubescent with short, spreading hairs, petiolate, the sheathing bases not or only slightly inflated, at least the uppermost hairy along the margins. Blades 2-15 cm long, triangular-ovate in outline, 2 or 3 times pinnately compound, the leaflets 3-9 mm long, ovate, dissected into several deep lobes, these 1-4 mm long, linear to lanceolate or narrowly oblong, narrowed to a sharp point at the tip, the margins otherwise entire.

	Leaf adaxial.
© SRTurner

	Leaf.
© SRTurner

Inflorescence - Terminal and lateral, compound umbels, relatively short-stalked or less commonly sessile, the stalks moderately to densely pubescent with short, spreading hairs. Involucre absent. Rays 3-6, 0.8-2.0 cm long, glabrous or sparsely pubescent with short, spreading hairs, especially at the base and tip. Involucel of 2-5 entire bractlets, these shorter than the flower stalks, linear to narrowly lanceolate, short-hairy along the margins, sparsely to moderately pubescent with short, stiff, white hairs on both surfaces.

	Inflorescence.
© SRTurner

	Umbellet.
© SRTurner

Flowers - 3-7 in each umbellet, the stalks 2-9 mm long. Sepals absent. Petals narrowly oblong-obovate, rounded at the tip, white. Ovaries with minute, hooked hairs.

	Corollas.
© SRTurner

Fruits - Schizocarps 3-4 mm long, ovate in outline, rounded at the base, tapered to a short beak at the tip, flattened laterally, the body covered with short, stout, hooked hairs, dark brown, the mericarps narrowed along the commissures, lacking ribs.

Flowering - May - June.

Habitat - Railroads.

Origin - Europe.

Lookalikes - Broadly, several other members of the family Apiaceae.

Other info. - This species is uncommon to rare in Missouri. The few existing records were collected along railroad tracks and probably represent transient waifs. It is much more common in the northwestern and far western regions of the continental U.S. The plant can be recognized by its highly divided leaves and small (but not minute) white flowers, with developing fruits densely covered with hooked hairs. There is no involucre but well-developed involucels.

Photographs taken near Couer d'Alene, Kootenai County, ID, 5-12-2025 (SRTurner).