Wild carrot (carrot weed)

Wild carrot is an annual or biennial. It’s an upright plant, growing to about a metre or a bit more in height. The leaves are fern-like, with individual segments being about 20- 40mm long. Not surprisingly, the leaves look much the same as a garden carrot. The white flowers appear, often in a spectacular though dismaying cloud of white, from August to May. They grow on tall, ridged stems that are branched, and have bristly hairs. The fruit is egg-shaped with wee hooks that make it easy for stock to unwittingly disperse wild carrot in their travels.