White-flowered Umbellifers

Carrot Family - Apiaceae

Common Shepherd's-needle Scandix pecten-veneris

Native to much of Central and southern Europe and the Mediterranean Basin, eastwards to western Asia and India. A common plant of arable and disturbed ground. Seed capsules carried in vertical clusters.


Habit	Flowers	Flowers

Leaf	Leaf	Seed capsules

Southern Shepherd's-needle Scandix australis

Native throughout the Mediterranean Region and eastwards to Iran. Seed capsules carried in spreading clusters. Bracteoles not leaf-like. Rays 3-5, not thickened in fruit. Beak of fruit only slightly compressed and distinctly separated from rest of capsule.


Seed capsules	Seed capsules	Seed capsules	Bracteoles

Bur Chervil Anthriscus caucalis

Native throughout Europe and much of the Mediterranean Region. Leaves two- to three-pinnate, very finely cut and fern-like, with scattered hairs beneath; bracts 0-1, bracteoles 4-5; flower heads carried in small clusters opposite the leaves; fruits oval, narrower towards the tip and with a beaked tip; covered in hooked hairs.


Habit	Habit	Flowers	Flowers

Leaves	Leaf	Fruits

Knotted Hedge-parsley Torilis nodosa

Native throughout Europe and the Mediterranean Region eastwards to Pakistan.


Habit	Habit	Flowers	Lower leaves

Lower leaf	Upper leaf	Fruits	Fruits

Southern Hedge-parsley Torilis africana

Native to the Mediterranean Region, eastwards to Afghanistan and south through East and South Africa. Stems have flattened, white hairs and branches spread openly and widely. Leaves one- to two-pinnate, the leaves often with noticeably long-tapered tips, especially the upper ones; All umbels terminal, bracts 0-1, flowerhead with 2-3 rays. Upper leaves reduced, 3-lobed.


Flowers	Flowers	Flowers	Bracteoles

Lower leaf	Lower leaf	Upper leaf	Seed capsules

Slender-leaved Hedge-parsley Torilis leptophylla

Native from Macaronesia eastwards through the Mediterranean Region to western and Central Asia. Stems have flattened, white hairs and branches spread openly and widely. Leaves one- to two-pinnate, the leaves often with noticeably long-tapered tips, especially the upper ones. Umbels typically leaf-opposed, not terminal, bracts 0-1, flowerhead with 2-3 rays. Upper leaves reduced.


Flowers	Leaf	Fruits

Horse Caraway Laser trilobum

Native in much of Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, eastwards to the Caucasus and Iran. Found in grassy places and roadsides in deciduous woodland.


Habit	Flowers	Flowers	Flowers

Basal leaves	Basal leaf

Flat-fruited Orlaya Orlaya daucoides

Native throughout the Mediterranean Region and Middle East.


Habit	Flowers	Flower bract	Flower bract and bracteole

Leaf	Fruits

Common Carrot Daucus carota

Native throughout Europe and the Mediterranean Region, eastwards to the Himalayas.


Habit	Flowers	Dark central floret	Bracts

Leaf	Stem	Fruiting head	Fruits

Dwarf Carrot Daucus pumilus

Native to the Canary Islands and throughout the Mediterranean Region. Typically found on sandy beaches.


Habit	Habit	Flowers	Leaf

Leaf	Fruits	Fruit	Fruit

Rock Samphire Crithmum maritimum

Common in coastal areas around the Mediterranean Basin, Black Sea and the Atlantic coast of Europe. Flowers pale cream.


Habit	Flowers	Flowers	Bracts

Bracteoles	Leaves	Leaf	Fruits

Scaligeria napiformis

Native from the Balkans and Greece to Libya and the Levant.


Flowers	Bracts	Bracteoles

Leaves	Leaf	Leaf

Common Hogweed Heracleum sphondylium

Native throughout Europe to North-west Africa and Turkey. Leaves one- to two-pinnate typically with coarse, broad segments that are roughly hairy, but some plants have distinctly narrower leaf segments; bracts 0-2, bracteoles 6-10, narrowly linear; fruits disk-shaped, strongly flattened laterally and with prominent styles at the top. The leaf stalks sheath the stem at the base. Flowers at the outer edge of the flowerhead are stongly asymetrical with much larger petals towards the outer edge of each flower.


Habit	Flowers	Flowers	Bracts

Bracteoles	Leaf	Leaf segment types	Fruits

Mediterranean Hartwort Tordylium apulum

Native in South-east Europe. Local in grassy and rocky places.


Flowerhead	Flowerhead	Flowers	Flower bracts

Leaf	Leaf	Fruits	Fruits

Bullwort Ammi majus

Native in the Mediterranean Region, eastwards to the Arabian Peninsula and Iran but also widely introduced elsewhere. Flowering stems to one metre in height. Leaves one to two-pinnate; bracts numerous, cut deeply to the veins and deeply forked; bracteoles with long, slender tips and white, winged margins at the base; fruits 1.5-2mm long, elliptical with slender but prominent ridges.


Habit	Habit	Flowers	Flowers

Bracts	Bracteoles	Leaf

Toothpick-plant Visnaga daucoides

Native to the Mediterranean Region, eastwards to the Caucasus and Iran. Flowering stems to one metre in height but often much less. Lower leaves once-pinnate, upper leaves much smaller, two to four-pinnate and deeply cut into linear segments; bracts numerous, cut deeply to the veins and deeply forked; bracteoles narrowly tapered to a fine point; fruits 2-2.5mm long, oval with slender ridges.


Habit	Flowers	Flowers

Leaf	Fruting head	Fruits

Hemlock Conium maculatum

Native throughout Europe and the Mediterranean Basin to Central Asia and the Himalayas. Leaves two- to four-pinnate with fine 'ferny' segments, hairless; bracts 5-6, bracteoles 3-6; fruits globular with warty ridges. Despite being only an annual or biennial, plants may grow to 2.5m in height and often form dense colonies. Plants smell very strongly and distinctively of male mice; stems strongly purple-spotted and the whole plant is highly poisonous.


Habit	Flowers	Flowers	Bracts

Bracteoles	Stem	Leaf	Fruits

Flora of Lesvos An Identification Guide

White-flowered Umbellifers

Carrot Family - Apiaceae

Species List

Flora of Lesvos
An Identification Guide