Hemlock ID

[lostplanet]

I have been clearing a path today,and came across this plant:

The leaves are quite a bit darker green than the picture, Is it Hemlock?

Also where we have been slashing at various plants in the clearing process there seems to be a coriander type smell occasionally, what would this likely be? Anything to do with hemlock? sorry the pics arent so great.

 

[Tonedef]

Are those purple splodges ?
looks hemlocky to me. i'll await someone with more knowledge.

 

[philaw]

It's pure coincidence, but I was out this afternoon and spotted some similar plants. I was planning on asking on here what they were, and hoping one would be pignut! There are quite a few plants that the same to me. The ones I found are all on the river bank in York, which is hardly the "well drained land" the book says that hemlock likes.

In my collins book hemlock's leaves look different to that. Am I allowed to scan the page and put it on if I reference it?

plant 1

plant 2

plant 3

 

[Allie]

I won't risk commenting on the hemlock (although I think hemlock's leaves are more feathery than that - I'm thinking it's sweet cicely or rough chervil, but I may well be wrong though..) but philaw I think your no. 2 is jack by the hedge..

 

[IntrepidStu]

I second number 2 as Hedge Garlick (jack by the hedge).

 

[philaw]

Ahah! Plant 2 does look like jack by the hedge. I've just found it in my food for free book.


I feel guilty for hijacking lostplanet's thread, now . I've had a look in my 'herbs and healing plants' and 'food for free' and can't find yours anywhere, pal. Hemlock doesn't look right in the book or here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conium

 

[IntrepidStu]

I have been clearing a path today,and came across this plant:

The leaves are quite a bit darker green than the picture, Is it Hemlock?

Also where we have been slashing at various plants in the clearing process there seems to be a coriander type smell occasionally, what would this likely be? Anything to do with hemlock? sorry the pics arent so great.

Looks like Hemlock to Me!!

 

[lostplanet]

it is mind boggling these differences, there was a lot of what i thought was cow parsley today, the leaves were not so green and actually looked like flat leaved parsley, i'm not thinking of eating any but it does make you think. I need pro advice and better camera.

No worries Phil, it's all in the interests of the forum and knowledge for anyone that comes accross the thread in the future.

 

[philaw]

I've found another one! Also on the banks of the river Ouse in york. This one really does look like hemlock, and it's different to lostplanet's. Check it out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conium

 

[Allie]

I've found another one! Also on the banks of the river Ouse in york. This one really does look like hemlock, and it's different to lostplanet's. Check it out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conium

That leaf looks hairy, which I don't think hemlock is? Does it have a purple mottled stem?

 

[philaw]

Didn't see any purple. Why do all plants look the same!?

 

[match]

There are hundreds of umbeliifer plants that all look very similar - hemlock, cow parsley, fools parsley, wild carrot, wild parsnip, sweet cicely to mention a few!

I'm sure folk already know this, but for the record, this isn;t a family to go experimenting with - hemlock is too dangerous to get mixed up with anything else!

Saying that, hemlock usually has dark purpley brown parts of the lower stem and when crushed smells very 'mousey'- as does fool's parsley.

Only ones I regularly use are pignuts (easy to identify due to the single stem and pignut on the end) and sweet cicely (very fluffy flower heads, strong aniseed smell and large easily spotted seed heads).

 

[chickenofthewoods]

I'd agree with that, umbellifers are the one area I avoid in foraging because mistakes can be fatal. About the only exception I could perhaps make is Alexanders, but I just don't like the perfumed flavour of it & I haven't been lucky enough to locate a pignut since I was a kid

 

[lostplanet]

Further to this discussion to positively ID Hemlock, Is it the only Umbellifer to have a Purple spotted stem? What I would like to confirm is that this is or plants that have the purple spots are poisionous, doesn't seem to be a very good indepth description anywhere for a very dangerous plant.

 

[chickenofthewoods]

One other feature about hemlock is that it smells distinctly of mouse urine (although of course, you do need to have an idea what that smells like to make the link!).

For identifying Umbellifers, this book is well worth looking out for: Umbellifers of the British Isles (B.S.B.I. handbook) by T.G. Tutin

 

[chickenofthewoods]

Oh yes, I nearly forgot, the Field Studies Council run a good selection of courses too. This one's just been and gone (and I missed the chance to get on it this year! ), but it's worth having a look at their site to see what else migth be of interest:

http://www.field-studies-council.org/professional/2008/courseinfo.aspx?id=349