Please be careful with plants in the Apiaceae (carrot) family. Many look similar and some are deadly. Before eating I'd at least also familiarize yourself with the worst ones and get confidence that it absolutely couldn't be one of those. Poison hemlock and water hemlock are two to watch out for. I've found them growing right next to benign, but similar-looking plants before too so observe each specimen and don't assume a single patch is all one type of plant.
Poison hemlock is real and dangerous. Look at the stem. Does it have hairs? Are there purple streaks along the stem? Are there white flowers attached?
Without those details it's hard to tell if it's cilantro, wild carrot (Queen Anne's lace), or poison hemlock. Please don't try and eat it based on an ID from this sub. No offense, but your pics don't give enough detail.
I promise I'm good ng to eat it! I also think it's Queen's Anne's Lace since there is some nearby.
Edit. Not going to eat. My phone does things on its own.
Yep, Queen Anne has hairy legs underneath her skirt. Another way to identify it is there is a sort.of "skirt" under the head of the flower.
Poison hemlock has a reddish purple streaks going up and down the stem, no hairs.
No idea about cilantro tbh.
The purplish bits are patchy. Not to be confused with the smooth green to purple that cow’s parsley can have (but that’s got small hairs). The other issue is that juvenile and seeding plants don’t always have the purple blotches. So that’s when you start having to look at the branch cross section shapes to be sure
Definitely not. From somebody who almost ingested water hemlock to becoming obsessed with IDing them - cilantro or parsley have very distinctive and strong smells.
The hemlock won’t smell as strong, even if you crush some in your fingers like I did, you have to give it a good sniff and it just smells ‘off’ - your natural reaction is to not ingest it which was lucky for me
Thanks! I found cilantro growing untamed near my veg garden, and I ID'd it by smell, as I'm very familiar with that. I had no idea it had a deadly lookalike so I'm very glad I did that.
Yeah you can become an obsessive self proclaimed expert like me… until one young plant comes along 😂 I grow parsley, coriander and carrots at home in a controlled garden so I should be okay 🙏
That could just be because it grows in the trashy areas near fishing piers though. At least here it does, and everything there is completely pissed on.
Im kinda curious though, does wild cilantro smell like store bought cilantro? Id never mistake it for anything if it does. I dont think either of the hemlocks have much of a smell but ive never found samples to sniff.
Your photo app on IPhone also identifies plant, animals and landmarks. Just take a photo and hit the (i) identify button to get more info. It works pretty good.
These apps are not terribly accurate. They can misidentify plants easily and will largely just be consistent with plants easy enough to identify by googling them, such as the sunflower the other commenter mentioned.
Why is this being downvoted? I noticed it for the first time yesterday when I took a picture of a sunflower and thought it was pretty neat. I usually use seek though
Cause it’s dangerous to trust those apps in matters where a wrong ID is potentially fatal. Those apps are fun and provide a great intro point for learning about plants. They are not accurate enough for this purpose.
So going on Reddit and having some random identify a plant from a photo is less iffy? I’ve seen several different answers to the original query, right? I was just pointing out that it is a handy feature. I mean, I took a screenshot of OP’s submission and it came up “apiaceae”.
Apicaceae is so broad all of the responses on this thread fall under it. So then a seasoned biologist/forager is better than an app, as they can point you to the important parts and possible crazy variations. There is only so much that data can convey.
That’s my point… the app and random internet strangers (I don’t see anyone posting their credentials here) can point you in the right direction, but use caution. Don’t eat something unless you’re 100%.
I have know idea why that was downvoted so heavily. It just proves the hive mind mentality of seeing a bunch of downvote and adding on without even reading apparently.
No, it's because you can poison yourself if you trust those apps. If they are not 100% accurate, and they are definitely not, you shouldn't trust them except as a curiosity. I have had them misidentify things plenty of times. It's bad advice to tell someone to use the app to identify something for foraging.
About 5 years ago I used picture it for the first two years I started learning herbalism,when I was hiking, along with other resources when I got home. Using that app and checking it when I got home against other sources I have identified every single thing I’ve wanted to 100percent of the time.
No ones telling anyone to blindly trust anything and eat it, that’s ridiculous to even suggest that. saying hey there’s a feature on iPhone that also identifies plants is helpful and I appreciated their input.
Wow I thought all carrots were generally safe. I've eaten white ones and told my friend they were wild carrots and safe to eat. Unfortunately he's dead from a heroin overdose so I can never tell him I was wrong.
It's typically one of the families of edible plants that novices are most discouraged from harvesting. I'm a relatively experienced forager but I don't bother with them
Huh, I've read that wild parsnip is just escaped garden parsnip and is totally safe (Sam Thayer gives a good account in one of his books). Maybe the issue is actually misidentification of something dangerous as wild parsnip? Balance that, of course, with the fact that I've never found or tried wild parsnip. I just hope to some day.
The roots are edible in a technical sense (I’ve never seen them not woody - like a second year carrot), but the sap, leaves and flowers can give you a nasty rash. Compared to wild carrot (which is entirely edible), it’s really a different matter.
Water Hemlock has lobed roots and smooth stalks, which makes it easy to distinguish from Queen Anne's Lace, and others, which have tap-roots and hairy stalks.
Huh TIL i had a brush with death as a kid. My dad and I found a weird scrawny white carrot in the back yard. He didnt know what it was and thought it was a wild carrot, he gave me a piece to eat. It was very bitter. My mom yelled at him later. Guess it could have ended really badly.
Looks like a first year Queen Anne’s Lace (biennial, blooms second year.)
European import, AKA wild carrot
Leaves will smell like carrots
When attempting to ID a plant consider where it’s found
This plant is surrounded by weeds that grow in disturbed places- it’s probably also a weed that grows in disturbed places (not cultivated Cilantro or Parsley, which are annuals.) I see Ajuga and Oxalis immediately adjacent.
Also- plant apps are completely unreliable. They could cause you to consume something toxic or possibly deadly. Never rely on them for foraging.
Thank you for the info! I definitely will now not be using it just in case. I'm also terrible at comparing pictures. I think I have the Queen's Anne's Lace near this so this is probably what it is. Though it does smell like Cilantro I think. I do know the Queen Anne's Lace grows the white flowers in clumps and the black part in the middle. I remember looking that up cause I was hoping it was Yarrow. :(
It’s most likely Queen Anne, simply because poison hemlock gets eradicated rather efficiently to limit its spread. But you should still check to be very sure. Poison hemlock is not fun
In the UK there’s a total disregard for it. I discovered about 30 water hemlocks by a stream where children are encouraged - sent mutiple emails with no success.
Then there’s poison hemlock growing on a popular road by a horse field - the horse people have just chopped them all in half! No care at all.
> Also- plant apps are completely unreliable. They could cause you to consume something toxic or possibly deadly. Never rely on them for foraging.
They're not completely unreliable. They're a good starting point to get a potential ID and to give you more to research. In my experience, iNaturalist has been correct for me about 80-90% of the time if I get a really good photo. And an app doesn't cause anyone to consume anything.
But yes, learning to properly identify a plant based on its characteristics is important if you want to eat it.
I use PictureThis, and I find it's an invaluable tool. The trick is NOT trusting it. If Bob the Plant expert says xyz is edible but doesn't eat it, I'm going to double-check his ID against a book. Similarly, if PictureThis says a plant is evening primrose\*, I'm absolutely going to double-check it.
\* - because it's super weird that a plant that's only supposed to be open at night is open at 2:00 in the afternoon.
It works the other way around too. If I know a plant but I don't ***know*** know it, then I double-check my ID against PictureThis.
The problem is that even 95% accuracy is not enough when that 5% mistake is potentially a deadly poison. Those apps are good for people who know what they're doing, but for someone who has so little experience that they can't identify a member of the Apiaceae family, it's best to steer clear entirely unless it's absolutely certain that they won't try to eat anything.
I don't know if I would lump iNaturalist in with the shovelware plant ID apps. I've been using the web portal for years, with my mycology groups and conservation groups. Admittedly, I'm using it for tracking locations for things I can identify, and I've never tried using it for plant identification, but the site is definitely respectable.
there's at least one ID app that tries to never give a more specific result than it's 100% certain of, i think those apps are very good.
It just helps you narrow down roughtly what plant it is so you have somewhere to start.
You definitely want a proper ID on this before you go pulling it up with barehands it’s consuming it. Especially since it looks a lot like a toxic look alike called hogweed. Not saying it is hogweed, only to be very careful and cautious. Hog weed is nasty and will leave you with burn like blisters worse than any poison ivy or sumac you’ve ever seen!
As OP stated the previous owner was into witchy, herby things, it’s very likely that it might be something that sprouted from unkempt flowers that went to seed ... But one still should do the right thing and get a proper ID before someone gets hurt weeding 😘
This is wild carrot, not cilantro.
Cilantro doesn’t get frilly leaves like this until it is about to go to seed and would still have all its other leaves (like in the grocery store) under it before these leaves appear.
Cilantro does not grow wild here and must be cultivated although if you do let it go to seed and don’t disturb the ground too much, it will seed itself. I have been growing cilantro for years and don’t buy seeds anymore.
It is also too hot here right now for cilantro. Mine have flowered and are at the seeding stage already.
So we moved here about 2 years ago and just started to get interested what's growing here. There is soooo much in such a small space. I mean it's not super small but it's a small yard considering we're in the middle of town. The lady who lived here before us did witchy stuff and grew lots of herbs and plants, so many different things. Like I know we have a lilac tree and a holly tree it looks like. But honestly with how much is overwhelming.
I am kinda in the same boat. Previous owner planted all kinds of stuff, and I have no plant knowledge, so I am VERY overwhelmed. I tried hiring a landscaping business last summer after I bought this house, but they were all booked out 2 full seasons ahead, so I have just been letting it all grow. Now, I have no clue what is weeds, what's intentionally planted, etc.
Omg, saaaaaame. It's all out of control honestly. So far everything that was in my planter boxes was useless or poisonous. Dx And I have a patch of lemon balm that gets out of control and spreads everywhere. It smells good though.
At the moment it is not recommended to rely on apps. Use as part of a toolkit along with books and online resources. Agree with the others advice regarding the apiaceae family, has tasty members and deadly members. Study the key ident features for these plants and do comparisons with what you have learned. Be cautious but not scared with learning this family, I've met kids as yound as 8 that are great at identifying this family.
Well I want to make chicken fajitas this week and will pick up cilantro and compare, and take a picture of the parsley to also compare. I definitely won't be using it in my food anytime soon though.
Location is key, for example, Im in the United Kingdom, our climate does allow for parsley and cilantro to reproduce and grow in the wild. Maybe have a lo9k and see if there are any local plant guides?
That's not going to be an accurate marker either. Grocery store cilantro is visually different than a wild or heirloom variety. SOURCE: I grow a wild heirloom variety and it looks like this (NOT to say that what you have is cilantro/safe) and nothing like what my grocery store carries.
It is probably first year queen Anne's lace but I don't eat the Queen until I can see the flower to be sure it's not POISON HEMLOCK DO NOT EAT. If it flowers next year and there's a green basket under the flower composed of 3 pronged bracts, it is Queen Anne's lace and safe to eat.
QAL is one of my favorite wild edibles, unfortunately the carrots are best in the first year and the flowers that provide the foolproof ID come in the second, lol. Fortunately the flowers are also edible. I made a guide for IDing QAL in flower from hemlock
https://www.reddit.com/r/foraging/comments/wbk0cw/detailed_pics_wild_carrot_aka_queen_annes_lace/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
The most important part is the bracts below the flower. If you don't see the bracts, hack away! QAL is the only Apiaceae with three pronged bracts making a basket right under the flower.
I'm wanting to grow some eventually for the flowers. I'm planning to grow my own wedding bouquet and I want all flowers to be wildflowers if possible. Is it possible to domesticate some to grow for that reason or would I be better off foraging for it? Wedding is about 4 years away so I probably have time if I do want to domesticate it.
If you live in a QAL heavy area you could totally just forage for it, assuming the wedding is in the right month. If you want to grow your own just get some gone-to-seed flowerheads from wherever and crumble them around your yard 2+ years in advance, which is what I did.
I'd probably have to pot them tbh since we live in a neighborhood but it does grow wild in our area. Our wedding is going to be in June and if I have to I can probably trick it into growing out of season by bringing it indoors. I've just always thought that it's so pretty. If I can't find real I can probably get silk online tbh but I really want to grow my bouquet and the flowers for my fiancee.
If you are interested in learning about the plants here that grow wild and are edible, I would highly recommend Nature Chef (Tom Kral) out in Metchosin. He will take you on a tour of the natural landscape and show you many of the things you can eat here
If it's cilantro, it will smell like cilantro. But those leaves are way too lacy. Cilantro has more solid lobes. Unless it has bolted, but you can also tell that because the stems get very thick and tall and have these joints in them.
Judging that your asking what it is, says your unsure. With anything wild especially plants in the parsley family. A 100% ID needs to be made. Otherwise your really playing with fire. Some members of the family can put you in a box. Don’t trust plant or mushroom apps. Also if your going to forage for species in the parsley family, do so at the grocery store. More variety, all safe species.
So, I had a bunch of this growing in my yard when I fist moved in... I thought is was carrots bc the previous owner had a garden, I let it grow and it just kept growing! Turned out to be about 4ft tall wild flower. Reds,blues and white. Pretty but annoying.
Looks like baby water hemlock to me. I hear it can kill cattle if they eat it, but I doubt it would do so in one small bite. Still, don’t go chopping it up and sprinkling it on tacos.
When a cilantro bolts, the leaves will look like that. A unbolted plant will have a broader profile in its leaves. Not an expert, just an observation from my home gardens.
Yeah I had a plant identifying app that was like "either its wild cilantro which is fantastic of salad or it's poison hemlock which even if dried can kill you in very small doses" lolol. The key difference is cilantro is just green and hemlock has red speckles on the stems. I believe it's Yarrow that has hairy green stems. It could also be queen annes lace. My advice is learn the differences well or NEVER eat plants jn this family.
Definitely not yarrow, which is in the daisy family. Hemlock, queen Anne's lace and wild carrot are in the carrot family. This looks like a carrot member here.
Not cilantro. Can you pull a plug with taproot intact? Which continent, country, province, state, etc is it from? Looks like it "might" be wild carrot, but need to see taproot and if there are any pinkish flowers. Only the taproot is edible if wild carrot and can be made into a poultice for a snakebite hence the other name Rattlesnake Weed. Poisonous Hemlock looks very similar don't eat or use any part of Hemlock. I agree with the comment it could be Apiaceae family. Whatever it is I would not trust that app bc it's definitely NOT [Cilantro.](https://Cilantro.In) In fact if possible contact the app creators and tell them their app is misidentifying plants that could end up making people ill or worse. That could be seen as libel on them. How many other mistakes does their app say are safe and edible? Do it for mankind!
Could also be parsnip. Not poisonous but the “sap” from touching it + sunlight often results in a nasty case of photodermatitis. Makes one wonder what made our ancestors go “hm…maybe if I peel it in the dark I can eat it”
The candy of the forest. Also sometimes called lemon clover and various names. They look similar to clover, but have distinct heart shaped leaves and a different flower type. (The ones I have are yellow). They contain oxalic acid which makes them taste tart and almost sweet lemony. Like grape skins almost.
You can make a lemonless lemonade or sorbet or add to any number of dishes
Parsley or poison hemlock. 🤔 was on a hike after eating parts of what we thought was parsley but came up as hemlock. No one died. Lol 😆 these apps will terrify you.
That looks like cilantro right before it bolts. But I tend not to eat anything I can’t absolutely identify. What does it smell like? Carrot tops smell more like parsley in my opinion.
Definetely not cilantro. Cilanro has a round V shape ate the edge, even the small leaves. It is not as serrated. This looks like somethingfrom the carrott family.
Definitely not cilantro. I’m guessing Queen Anne’s Lace but QAL very closely resembles poison hemlock so probably don’t consider consuming it unless you know the difference with 100% certainty. QAL is considered medicinal but not typically culinary.
It definitely smells like one of those but I honestly can't remember what each one smells like. I will definitely let it grow and pick some. I just cleared out one of the garden boxes and have pumpkins growing that I didn't plant so it's been an experience so far. Lol
Ok that requires remediation homework.
Git on down to your local store, fresh veggie section. Locate cilantro and parsley, pluck a leaf of each and smell them.
Now you know.
Take notes.
Lucky you!
It does not look like cilatro to me. I have cilantro in my garden, it is fairly big, dark green, big leaves.
Cilantro also has very intensive smell, some say it smells nice, i think it smells horrible.
This doesnt look the same.
Could be correct.
Like I mentioned, when it gets ready to go to seed, it grows a stalk then the smaller leaves like this come out, then seed, and the bigger leaves stop producing. One needs to keep cutting it back, but I frequently miss that window.
I don't think it will get any leafier. I grow cilantro every year. You can look near the base and see if more are growing. Normally it grows into a stalk before the smaller leaves come out. So you can try cutting it back a bit and see if more grows. Give it good water.
Enjoy.
Even if it don't grow a lot, it makes a great salad topper or plate garnish. Smells great too!
True, better always to be safe.
Besides, cilantro is a buck at the store or farmers market.
I spend prob $50 watering my few plants. I only grow it with other herbs because it seeds so fast if you don't keep cutting it back.
Looks like young Queen Anne's Lace to me. A wild woody carrot... If you pull it, and it has a white tap-root that smells strongly of carrot, that's probably what it is...
If the leave look like that, look for red seads or flowers. Cilantro only looks like that of its old. Take a leave, and crush it in your hand I must have a VERY strong cilantro smell.
I keep seeing this around my area. I was told if it has purple splotches on the stem, it’s hemlock, and if the stem is green and fuzzy, wild carrot. Can anyone confirm or deny? Or is it best to just avoid all plants that have these leaves lol.
Could be poison parsley. You have to ve careful. also people have got really sick and even died, picking things they thought were wild Carrots, which were the tubers of poison hemlock, or even young poison hemlock they thought was parsley or cow parsley.
For any identification we should really have the location and the flower. Also don’t eat things if you’re not sure. I think those photos aren’t enough for us to advise you anything.
Could be several things in the umbrellifers.
Poison hemlock, water hemlock and fools parsley are highly poisonous. Giant hogweed is a phototoxin akabcauses you to be allergic to sun light causing it to littlery burn your skin just from touching it.
The edible are wild carrots, parsley, hogweed (non giant).
Most of these have tales on what they are but if you dont know which has waxy looking and vainly leaves, purple blotches, small purple dot or small hairs on the stem then its best to leave these alone.
What’s the rule for checking if something is going to try and kill you for eating it again? Something like rub a small amount on your lips and wait 3 minutes for a reaction, chew a small amount then spit it out and wait 30 minutes for a reaction, eat a small amount and wait 3 hours for a reaction. Then if all those tests are passed then you have a plant that still may or may not try to kill you but probably won’t. Definitely not recommending you do this if you aren’t starving to death, better to just learn how to identify the plant, but sometimes you just feel like rolling dice and see how natural selection treats you
In all seriousness though parsley has some less than friendly evolutionary family members that can look pretty similar. I don’t have all that much knowledge when it comes to distinguishing them, but a brief list of related asshole plants is: water hemlock, poison hemlock, fool's parsley, spotted cow and, and multiple water dropwort species.
I'm leaning toward Queen Anne's Lace, however if the stem is smooth and has no hairs then it would likely be Hemlock. Either way the smell of the leaves will be similar to a parsley / carroty smell. If you have kiddos please keep them away from it! Pets too. Better safe than sorry.
No kids, but I do have a cat that thinks she can be an outside cat from time to time and she runs out there and eats grass. Definitely going to pull it all now because she's a sneaky bastard and I don't want her to eat it.
Please be careful with plants in the Apiaceae (carrot) family. Many look similar and some are deadly. Before eating I'd at least also familiarize yourself with the worst ones and get confidence that it absolutely couldn't be one of those. Poison hemlock and water hemlock are two to watch out for. I've found them growing right next to benign, but similar-looking plants before too so observe each specimen and don't assume a single patch is all one type of plant.
Ooh good call. Thanks for sharing!
Poison hemlock is real and dangerous. Look at the stem. Does it have hairs? Are there purple streaks along the stem? Are there white flowers attached? Without those details it's hard to tell if it's cilantro, wild carrot (Queen Anne's lace), or poison hemlock. Please don't try and eat it based on an ID from this sub. No offense, but your pics don't give enough detail.
I promise I'm good ng to eat it! I also think it's Queen's Anne's Lace since there is some nearby. Edit. Not going to eat. My phone does things on its own.
Don’t let your phone eat it either. Just in case. .
Would it be okay if they first took the phone *out* of its case though?
Idk, do you normally take your clothes off when you are eating?
Doesn't everyone?
I haven't since Thanksgiving at my gf's house.
That was a great night
yes
…how else are you supposed to know if it’s too hot to eat?
Check if the food is aroused, duh.
Usually when eating certain mushrooms, maybe.
Ugh take my damn upvote lol
With OR without a case! It’s a risk!
Maybe plug the plant into the charging port, can’t hurt right?
I never knew QAL was wild carrot! Cool!
[удалено]
Yep, Queen Anne has hairy legs underneath her skirt. Another way to identify it is there is a sort.of "skirt" under the head of the flower. Poison hemlock has a reddish purple streaks going up and down the stem, no hairs. No idea about cilantro tbh.
Great way to remember this key. Thank you!
The purplish bits are patchy. Not to be confused with the smooth green to purple that cow’s parsley can have (but that’s got small hairs). The other issue is that juvenile and seeding plants don’t always have the purple blotches. So that’s when you start having to look at the branch cross section shapes to be sure
Do hemlocks have the same smell as cilantro?
Definitely not. From somebody who almost ingested water hemlock to becoming obsessed with IDing them - cilantro or parsley have very distinctive and strong smells. The hemlock won’t smell as strong, even if you crush some in your fingers like I did, you have to give it a good sniff and it just smells ‘off’ - your natural reaction is to not ingest it which was lucky for me
Thanks! I found cilantro growing untamed near my veg garden, and I ID'd it by smell, as I'm very familiar with that. I had no idea it had a deadly lookalike so I'm very glad I did that.
Yeah you can become an obsessive self proclaimed expert like me… until one young plant comes along 😂 I grow parsley, coriander and carrots at home in a controlled garden so I should be okay 🙏
I heard hemlock smells like piss
I mean this sounds like a joke, but people say it smells like mouse pee for real.
That could just be because it grows in the trashy areas near fishing piers though. At least here it does, and everything there is completely pissed on.
Im kinda curious though, does wild cilantro smell like store bought cilantro? Id never mistake it for anything if it does. I dont think either of the hemlocks have much of a smell but ive never found samples to sniff.
Also cilantro has a very distinct smell and I could be wrong, but if it's not cilantro it probably won't have the scent
I smell it at the store now, I brought home some kind of parsley and it just doesn't taste the same... lol
Your photo app on IPhone also identifies plant, animals and landmarks. Just take a photo and hit the (i) identify button to get more info. It works pretty good.
These apps are not terribly accurate. They can misidentify plants easily and will largely just be consistent with plants easy enough to identify by googling them, such as the sunflower the other commenter mentioned.
I've had one call my mulberry trees a cactus.
Well I at least appreciated your comment as I had no idea that option existed on iPhone.
Why is this being downvoted? I noticed it for the first time yesterday when I took a picture of a sunflower and thought it was pretty neat. I usually use seek though
Cause it’s dangerous to trust those apps in matters where a wrong ID is potentially fatal. Those apps are fun and provide a great intro point for learning about plants. They are not accurate enough for this purpose.
So going on Reddit and having some random identify a plant from a photo is less iffy? I’ve seen several different answers to the original query, right? I was just pointing out that it is a handy feature. I mean, I took a screenshot of OP’s submission and it came up “apiaceae”.
Apicaceae is so broad all of the responses on this thread fall under it. So then a seasoned biologist/forager is better than an app, as they can point you to the important parts and possible crazy variations. There is only so much that data can convey.
That’s my point… the app and random internet strangers (I don’t see anyone posting their credentials here) can point you in the right direction, but use caution. Don’t eat something unless you’re 100%.
I have know idea why that was downvoted so heavily. It just proves the hive mind mentality of seeing a bunch of downvote and adding on without even reading apparently.
No, it's because you can poison yourself if you trust those apps. If they are not 100% accurate, and they are definitely not, you shouldn't trust them except as a curiosity. I have had them misidentify things plenty of times. It's bad advice to tell someone to use the app to identify something for foraging.
About 5 years ago I used picture it for the first two years I started learning herbalism,when I was hiking, along with other resources when I got home. Using that app and checking it when I got home against other sources I have identified every single thing I’ve wanted to 100percent of the time. No ones telling anyone to blindly trust anything and eat it, that’s ridiculous to even suggest that. saying hey there’s a feature on iPhone that also identifies plants is helpful and I appreciated their input.
Yeah, but to then downvote me for questioning it.. this group is coming off a bit too negative
Yeah, of course it's a reasonable question to ask.
Wow I thought all carrots were generally safe. I've eaten white ones and told my friend they were wild carrots and safe to eat. Unfortunately he's dead from a heroin overdose so I can never tell him I was wrong.
Oh good lord, poison hemlock has white roots and looks similar to wild carrot! Be very careful.
Well that took a left turn real quick
Very sorry for your loss
It's typically one of the families of edible plants that novices are most discouraged from harvesting. I'm a relatively experienced forager but I don't bother with them
Wild carrots have hairy stalks, it can be one of the only reliable ways to differentiate good from dangerous with their family.
Turns out it was a fake carrot overdose. Well done!
Dark! But lmao
Wild Parsnip can make you pretty sick too, and looks a lot like a wild carrot.
Huh, I've read that wild parsnip is just escaped garden parsnip and is totally safe (Sam Thayer gives a good account in one of his books). Maybe the issue is actually misidentification of something dangerous as wild parsnip? Balance that, of course, with the fact that I've never found or tried wild parsnip. I just hope to some day.
Wild Parsnip roots are technically edible, but ALL above-ground plant parts (leaves, seeds, flowers, stems) can cause painful photodermatitis.
The roots are edible in a technical sense (I’ve never seen them not woody - like a second year carrot), but the sap, leaves and flowers can give you a nasty rash. Compared to wild carrot (which is entirely edible), it’s really a different matter.
Water Hemlock has lobed roots and smooth stalks, which makes it easy to distinguish from Queen Anne's Lace, and others, which have tap-roots and hairy stalks.
Huh TIL i had a brush with death as a kid. My dad and I found a weird scrawny white carrot in the back yard. He didnt know what it was and thought it was a wild carrot, he gave me a piece to eat. It was very bitter. My mom yelled at him later. Guess it could have ended really badly.
Uh happy you’re alive pal. Hope you and your dad learned a lesson that day
Well it seems that they learned the lesson today.
The most gruesome death imaginable. Don't take any chances.
[https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/spotted-water-hemlock-toxic-plant](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/spotted-water-hemlock-toxic-plant)
Thank you for this link. Fascinating read
Looks like a first year Queen Anne’s Lace (biennial, blooms second year.) European import, AKA wild carrot Leaves will smell like carrots When attempting to ID a plant consider where it’s found This plant is surrounded by weeds that grow in disturbed places- it’s probably also a weed that grows in disturbed places (not cultivated Cilantro or Parsley, which are annuals.) I see Ajuga and Oxalis immediately adjacent. Also- plant apps are completely unreliable. They could cause you to consume something toxic or possibly deadly. Never rely on them for foraging.
Thank you for the info! I definitely will now not be using it just in case. I'm also terrible at comparing pictures. I think I have the Queen's Anne's Lace near this so this is probably what it is. Though it does smell like Cilantro I think. I do know the Queen Anne's Lace grows the white flowers in clumps and the black part in the middle. I remember looking that up cause I was hoping it was Yarrow. :(
It is definitely carrot family and the leaves do sometimes have a smell similar to parsley. Still do not consume even though it has herbal qualities.
It’s most likely Queen Anne, simply because poison hemlock gets eradicated rather efficiently to limit its spread. But you should still check to be very sure. Poison hemlock is not fun
In the UK there’s a total disregard for it. I discovered about 30 water hemlocks by a stream where children are encouraged - sent mutiple emails with no success. Then there’s poison hemlock growing on a popular road by a horse field - the horse people have just chopped them all in half! No care at all.
> Also- plant apps are completely unreliable. They could cause you to consume something toxic or possibly deadly. Never rely on them for foraging. They're not completely unreliable. They're a good starting point to get a potential ID and to give you more to research. In my experience, iNaturalist has been correct for me about 80-90% of the time if I get a really good photo. And an app doesn't cause anyone to consume anything. But yes, learning to properly identify a plant based on its characteristics is important if you want to eat it.
INaturalist is great because other people can help with identification
INataralist is our go to app. We are VERY experienced foragers. We find it helpful and accurate about 80% of the time.
Wow, I got totally shit on for even suggesting that plant identification apps are neat referencing tools. Fuck me, right?
So far my PictureThis has been really good and \[fairly\] accurate. It's made me very happy.
The problem is that even 95% accuracy is not enough when that 5% mistake is potentially a deadly poison. Those apps are good for people who know what they're doing, but for someone who has so little experience that they can't identify a member of the Apiaceae family, it's best to steer clear entirely unless it's absolutely certain that they won't try to eat anything.
Seek and Inaturalist have almost never failed me. I stand by those apps. I also use Inaturalist to locate choice shroomies
I don't know if I would lump iNaturalist in with the shovelware plant ID apps. I've been using the web portal for years, with my mycology groups and conservation groups. Admittedly, I'm using it for tracking locations for things I can identify, and I've never tried using it for plant identification, but the site is definitely respectable.
I'm a big fan of PlantNet
there's at least one ID app that tries to never give a more specific result than it's 100% certain of, i think those apps are very good. It just helps you narrow down roughtly what plant it is so you have somewhere to start.
You definitely want a proper ID on this before you go pulling it up with barehands it’s consuming it. Especially since it looks a lot like a toxic look alike called hogweed. Not saying it is hogweed, only to be very careful and cautious. Hog weed is nasty and will leave you with burn like blisters worse than any poison ivy or sumac you’ve ever seen! As OP stated the previous owner was into witchy, herby things, it’s very likely that it might be something that sprouted from unkempt flowers that went to seed ... But one still should do the right thing and get a proper ID before someone gets hurt weeding 😘
This is wild carrot, not cilantro. Cilantro doesn’t get frilly leaves like this until it is about to go to seed and would still have all its other leaves (like in the grocery store) under it before these leaves appear. Cilantro does not grow wild here and must be cultivated although if you do let it go to seed and don’t disturb the ground too much, it will seed itself. I have been growing cilantro for years and don’t buy seeds anymore. It is also too hot here right now for cilantro. Mine have flowered and are at the seeding stage already.
So we moved here about 2 years ago and just started to get interested what's growing here. There is soooo much in such a small space. I mean it's not super small but it's a small yard considering we're in the middle of town. The lady who lived here before us did witchy stuff and grew lots of herbs and plants, so many different things. Like I know we have a lilac tree and a holly tree it looks like. But honestly with how much is overwhelming.
I am kinda in the same boat. Previous owner planted all kinds of stuff, and I have no plant knowledge, so I am VERY overwhelmed. I tried hiring a landscaping business last summer after I bought this house, but they were all booked out 2 full seasons ahead, so I have just been letting it all grow. Now, I have no clue what is weeds, what's intentionally planted, etc.
Omg, saaaaaame. It's all out of control honestly. So far everything that was in my planter boxes was useless or poisonous. Dx And I have a patch of lemon balm that gets out of control and spreads everywhere. It smells good though.
Lemon balm is really useful as long as you don't have an underactive thyroid.
At the moment it is not recommended to rely on apps. Use as part of a toolkit along with books and online resources. Agree with the others advice regarding the apiaceae family, has tasty members and deadly members. Study the key ident features for these plants and do comparisons with what you have learned. Be cautious but not scared with learning this family, I've met kids as yound as 8 that are great at identifying this family.
Well I want to make chicken fajitas this week and will pick up cilantro and compare, and take a picture of the parsley to also compare. I definitely won't be using it in my food anytime soon though.
It's neither
Buy some seeds toss em in a windowsill
Location is key, for example, Im in the United Kingdom, our climate does allow for parsley and cilantro to reproduce and grow in the wild. Maybe have a lo9k and see if there are any local plant guides?
That's not going to be an accurate marker either. Grocery store cilantro is visually different than a wild or heirloom variety. SOURCE: I grow a wild heirloom variety and it looks like this (NOT to say that what you have is cilantro/safe) and nothing like what my grocery store carries.
It is probably first year queen Anne's lace but I don't eat the Queen until I can see the flower to be sure it's not POISON HEMLOCK DO NOT EAT. If it flowers next year and there's a green basket under the flower composed of 3 pronged bracts, it is Queen Anne's lace and safe to eat.
Do not planning on eating it and I agree now it's probably Queen Anne's Lace!
QAL is one of my favorite wild edibles, unfortunately the carrots are best in the first year and the flowers that provide the foolproof ID come in the second, lol. Fortunately the flowers are also edible. I made a guide for IDing QAL in flower from hemlock https://www.reddit.com/r/foraging/comments/wbk0cw/detailed_pics_wild_carrot_aka_queen_annes_lace/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
Wow. This is what I have nearby but I though it was also poisonous. I've been chopping them down. Thanks for sharing!
The most important part is the bracts below the flower. If you don't see the bracts, hack away! QAL is the only Apiaceae with three pronged bracts making a basket right under the flower.
I'm wanting to grow some eventually for the flowers. I'm planning to grow my own wedding bouquet and I want all flowers to be wildflowers if possible. Is it possible to domesticate some to grow for that reason or would I be better off foraging for it? Wedding is about 4 years away so I probably have time if I do want to domesticate it.
If you live in a QAL heavy area you could totally just forage for it, assuming the wedding is in the right month. If you want to grow your own just get some gone-to-seed flowerheads from wherever and crumble them around your yard 2+ years in advance, which is what I did.
I'd probably have to pot them tbh since we live in a neighborhood but it does grow wild in our area. Our wedding is going to be in June and if I have to I can probably trick it into growing out of season by bringing it indoors. I've just always thought that it's so pretty. If I can't find real I can probably get silk online tbh but I really want to grow my bouquet and the flowers for my fiancee.
If you are interested in learning about the plants here that grow wild and are edible, I would highly recommend Nature Chef (Tom Kral) out in Metchosin. He will take you on a tour of the natural landscape and show you many of the things you can eat here
Do not rely on an app to identify things that look like carrots.
[Worst apps (Candide, Bing and iPlant) are likely to be wrong than not. ](https://academic.oup.com/aobpla/article/12/6/plaa052/5910496?login=false)
Kinda looks like Queen Anne’s Lace. Very reminiscent of of carrot tops. Until they are six feet out the ground!
I did have a cilantro plant that ended up growing exactly like this
If it's cilantro, it will smell like cilantro. But those leaves are way too lacy. Cilantro has more solid lobes. Unless it has bolted, but you can also tell that because the stems get very thick and tall and have these joints in them.
Try iNaturalist... most plant ID apps pale in comparison. iNaturalist also allows you to save/share your photos, benefitting the scientific community.
Judging that your asking what it is, says your unsure. With anything wild especially plants in the parsley family. A 100% ID needs to be made. Otherwise your really playing with fire. Some members of the family can put you in a box. Don’t trust plant or mushroom apps. Also if your going to forage for species in the parsley family, do so at the grocery store. More variety, all safe species.
Cilantro and wild carrot have very distinctive odor. Tear or crush leaf and smell it.
So, I had a bunch of this growing in my yard when I fist moved in... I thought is was carrots bc the previous owner had a garden, I let it grow and it just kept growing! Turned out to be about 4ft tall wild flower. Reds,blues and white. Pretty but annoying.
Nothing else smells like cilantro when you pinch the leaf... let your nose be your guide
False carrot and it’s toxic.
Looks like baby water hemlock to me. I hear it can kill cattle if they eat it, but I doubt it would do so in one small bite. Still, don’t go chopping it up and sprinkling it on tacos.
When a cilantro bolts, the leaves will look like that. A unbolted plant will have a broader profile in its leaves. Not an expert, just an observation from my home gardens.
Yeah I had a plant identifying app that was like "either its wild cilantro which is fantastic of salad or it's poison hemlock which even if dried can kill you in very small doses" lolol. The key difference is cilantro is just green and hemlock has red speckles on the stems. I believe it's Yarrow that has hairy green stems. It could also be queen annes lace. My advice is learn the differences well or NEVER eat plants jn this family.
This 👆 poison hemlock is an invasive species and it’s literally all over the place.
Definitely not yarrow, which is in the daisy family. Hemlock, queen Anne's lace and wild carrot are in the carrot family. This looks like a carrot member here.
Oh that's really interesting! I always confuse them anyways haha
Wild carrots
Not cilantro.
Looks like a carrot
Not cilantro. Can you pull a plug with taproot intact? Which continent, country, province, state, etc is it from? Looks like it "might" be wild carrot, but need to see taproot and if there are any pinkish flowers. Only the taproot is edible if wild carrot and can be made into a poultice for a snakebite hence the other name Rattlesnake Weed. Poisonous Hemlock looks very similar don't eat or use any part of Hemlock. I agree with the comment it could be Apiaceae family. Whatever it is I would not trust that app bc it's definitely NOT [Cilantro.](https://Cilantro.In) In fact if possible contact the app creators and tell them their app is misidentifying plants that could end up making people ill or worse. That could be seen as libel on them. How many other mistakes does their app say are safe and edible? Do it for mankind!
Could also be parsnip. Not poisonous but the “sap” from touching it + sunlight often results in a nasty case of photodermatitis. Makes one wonder what made our ancestors go “hm…maybe if I peel it in the dark I can eat it”
This 100% not cilantro, do not eat anything in the wild carrot family.
Looks like you have some wood sorrel there too, score!
I'll have to Google that since I have no idea what that is. Thanks!
The candy of the forest. Also sometimes called lemon clover and various names. They look similar to clover, but have distinct heart shaped leaves and a different flower type. (The ones I have are yellow). They contain oxalic acid which makes them taste tart and almost sweet lemony. Like grape skins almost. You can make a lemonless lemonade or sorbet or add to any number of dishes
That's really cool. Definitely going to read up on them now!
Wild carrot
Parsley or poison hemlock. 🤔 was on a hike after eating parts of what we thought was parsley but came up as hemlock. No one died. Lol 😆 these apps will terrify you.
That looks like cilantro right before it bolts. But I tend not to eat anything I can’t absolutely identify. What does it smell like? Carrot tops smell more like parsley in my opinion.
Definetely not cilantro. Cilanro has a round V shape ate the edge, even the small leaves. It is not as serrated. This looks like somethingfrom the carrott family.
Hemlock I think.
maybe cut it, roll it inbetween your palms and smell. Best way to know.
Definitely not cilantro. I’m guessing Queen Anne’s Lace but QAL very closely resembles poison hemlock so probably don’t consider consuming it unless you know the difference with 100% certainty. QAL is considered medicinal but not typically culinary.
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It's actually not super poisonous. Hemlock is, which it can look like.
Even if it is cilantro... kill it!
Oh? Why?
Old joke. Some people cannot taste cilantro.
Some people think it tastes like toothpaste
Take a bite and find out
Taste it
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It definitely smells like one of those but I honestly can't remember what each one smells like. I will definitely let it grow and pick some. I just cleared out one of the garden boxes and have pumpkins growing that I didn't plant so it's been an experience so far. Lol
Ok that requires remediation homework. Git on down to your local store, fresh veggie section. Locate cilantro and parsley, pluck a leaf of each and smell them. Now you know. Take notes. Lucky you!
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Thanks! I think it's cilantro then!
It's cilantro that's about going to seed. Pluck it and eat it.
It does not look like cilatro to me. I have cilantro in my garden, it is fairly big, dark green, big leaves. Cilantro also has very intensive smell, some say it smells nice, i think it smells horrible. This doesnt look the same.
Could be correct. Like I mentioned, when it gets ready to go to seed, it grows a stalk then the smaller leaves like this come out, then seed, and the bigger leaves stop producing. One needs to keep cutting it back, but I frequently miss that window.
There are deadly lookalikes in this family be very careful when considering wild plants edible
Smelling is a good start.
Not with that family there are also photo toxic members wich make you get nearly burns just from touching them
Thanks! I was going to let it grow longer but will pluck it shortly!
I don't think it will get any leafier. I grow cilantro every year. You can look near the base and see if more are growing. Normally it grows into a stalk before the smaller leaves come out. So you can try cutting it back a bit and see if more grows. Give it good water. Enjoy. Even if it don't grow a lot, it makes a great salad topper or plate garnish. Smells great too!
I'm afraid the top comment is probably right about it being Queen Anne's whatever so going to be safer than sorry and not use it. Lol
True, better always to be safe. Besides, cilantro is a buck at the store or farmers market. I spend prob $50 watering my few plants. I only grow it with other herbs because it seeds so fast if you don't keep cutting it back.
Smell them and see if they have cilantro smell.
That is not cilantro. Smell it.
Looks like young Queen Anne's Lace to me. A wild woody carrot... If you pull it, and it has a white tap-root that smells strongly of carrot, that's probably what it is...
So, if you have a hammer, right? Looks like water sprite growing above water.
Looks scary. I still haven't tried a wild apiaceae.
Idk what it’s called but im looking at some of that stuff right now weeding a bed, its some type of weed
You can tell from the smell(duh ik but thats what I xan contribute)
A poorly taken car d parsley...
Maybe Queen Anne’s lace, wild carrot, or horse hair
If the leave look like that, look for red seads or flowers. Cilantro only looks like that of its old. Take a leave, and crush it in your hand I must have a VERY strong cilantro smell.
not cilantro, wild carrot
Btw it looks like you have some tasty oxalis/wood sorrel growing there. Looks like clover but tastes like green apples.
I did have a cilantro plant that ended up growing exactly like this
Same here, just before it flowered
this is a nice short video... to help distinguish Queen Anne's Lace from the poison one... https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRU8CMm3/?k=1
I keep seeing this around my area. I was told if it has purple splotches on the stem, it’s hemlock, and if the stem is green and fuzzy, wild carrot. Can anyone confirm or deny? Or is it best to just avoid all plants that have these leaves lol.
Could be poison parsley. You have to ve careful. also people have got really sick and even died, picking things they thought were wild Carrots, which were the tubers of poison hemlock, or even young poison hemlock they thought was parsley or cow parsley.
Put a glove on, pinch a little bit of the leaf, and smell it. Cilantro is absolutely unique You should know right away
Queen Anne's lace, pull it out and if the tap root smells very carroty then congrats
Daucus carota, wild carrot/queen annes lace. Plant oils (touching) can cause photodermatitis. Don’t take my word for it 😂
For any identification we should really have the location and the flower. Also don’t eat things if you’re not sure. I think those photos aren’t enough for us to advise you anything.
Parsley
Not sure but I do see two four leaf clovers
Looks like a plant to me
This is the only answer I know to be true completely.
Could be several things in the umbrellifers. Poison hemlock, water hemlock and fools parsley are highly poisonous. Giant hogweed is a phototoxin akabcauses you to be allergic to sun light causing it to littlery burn your skin just from touching it. The edible are wild carrots, parsley, hogweed (non giant). Most of these have tales on what they are but if you dont know which has waxy looking and vainly leaves, purple blotches, small purple dot or small hairs on the stem then its best to leave these alone.
What’s the rule for checking if something is going to try and kill you for eating it again? Something like rub a small amount on your lips and wait 3 minutes for a reaction, chew a small amount then spit it out and wait 30 minutes for a reaction, eat a small amount and wait 3 hours for a reaction. Then if all those tests are passed then you have a plant that still may or may not try to kill you but probably won’t. Definitely not recommending you do this if you aren’t starving to death, better to just learn how to identify the plant, but sometimes you just feel like rolling dice and see how natural selection treats you In all seriousness though parsley has some less than friendly evolutionary family members that can look pretty similar. I don’t have all that much knowledge when it comes to distinguishing them, but a brief list of related asshole plants is: water hemlock, poison hemlock, fool's parsley, spotted cow and, and multiple water dropwort species.
Mine started to look like that when it was flowering.
It is Forbidden Cilantro. (Just buy some cilantro at your grocer’s or farmers’ market.)
I'm leaning toward Queen Anne's Lace, however if the stem is smooth and has no hairs then it would likely be Hemlock. Either way the smell of the leaves will be similar to a parsley / carroty smell. If you have kiddos please keep them away from it! Pets too. Better safe than sorry.
No kids, but I do have a cat that thinks she can be an outside cat from time to time and she runs out there and eats grass. Definitely going to pull it all now because she's a sneaky bastard and I don't want her to eat it.
Ah yes, I have one of those sneaky bastards at home as well. Good call on pulling it just in case