Can Anyone Identify This Plant?

[Scouse]

It's just come up this year, wasn't there last. The wife's the gardener, but swears she didn't plant this. It's an odd looking thing, freaks me out to be honest! It's about 5 foot high and each big head is made up of smaller spheres each with lots of what look like small green flowers. The stem is fibrous, not woody.

Any help gratefully received

El.

 

[blurk99]

looks like giant hogweed to me - loads of it in verges, watch the sap when you destroy it...

jim

 

[adidat]

Triffid?

:lol:

now where is that coat

adidat

 

[blurk99]

like this...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rbk_dolde.jpg

 

[woodbutcher2]

I am almost certain your plant is Angelica . My wife has been growing them for several seasons.

 

[Scouse]

Angelica it is, thanks chaps. Still no idea where it came from though!

 

[AndyT]

It grows wild in Iceland - maybe the seeds blew in along with the dust cloud!

 

[Jonzjob]

Angelica! That's our dogs kennel name, Butwick Angelica. Chocolat lab and even though shes over 14 yeatrs old angelic she ain't!!!

 

[RogerP]

Angelica Recipes

 

[DrPhill]

Be a little careful identifying umbellifers (the generic name of the family) as some umbellifers are responsible for most of the plant poisonings in this country.

Other possible identities for the plant include lovage, sweet cicely, alexanders, and poison hemlock....... I think water dropwort is unlikely

Properly identified the benign ones are wonderful culinary additions.

 

[dickm]

Be a little careful identifying umbellifers (the generic name of the family) as some umbellifers are responsible for most of the plant poisonings in this country.

.... until, of course, the taxonomists decided they weren't umbellifers any more, but Apiacae! Still just as poisonous though
My candidate would be wild parsnip (Pastinaca sativa), going by the leaf shape.

 

[Jonzjob]

What does it taste like? :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

NO! Don't even think about it until it's bin identified properly!!!

One of the things over here is that all of the pharmasists are trained in the different fungi and if/when you find one that you don't know if it's edible or poisonous you take along to them and they will identify it for you. Some very strange and tasty jobbies too that would never get eaten in the U.K.

 

[stevebuk]

Angelica is my guess, and seeing as i was looking at some today..

 

[DrPhill]

I would counsel caution. Though a great fan of 'Food For Free' and a regular eater of wild plants I would never eat a wild umbellifer (apiaceae is such an ugly word to say, though it is, for now, more technically correct). I would treat a visitor to my garden with the same wariness. The differences in appearance between the various species can be tiny compared to the differences between their toxicities.

 

[Jonzjob]

I can only agree with that Phil. You only need to get it wrong once!!!!!

 

[dickm]

I would never eat a wild umbellifer (apiaceae is such an ugly word to say, though it is, for now, more technically correct)..

.... agreed wholeheartedly. And what do we now call the flower heads (the umbels)? Are they now APIES? Apes? Apia???

DNA analysis has a lot to answer for.

 

[Wildman]

have a good look here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelica_archangelica