WildBristol.uk - Discovering Wildlife in Bristol

Stace 4:

Petroselinum crispum (Mill.) Fuss - Garden Parsley.

Erect biennial to 75cm, with characteristic parsley smell; lower leaves 3-pinnate, shiny; bracts 1-3, often lobed or leaf-like; fruits 2-2.5mm, with styles more or less as long as stylopodium; 2n=22. Archaeophyte-cultivated; commonly grown on small scale and frequent escape on tips and in waste places; scattered in British Isles except most of Central & Northern Scotland; East Mediterranean. The many cultivars, with crisped or flat leaves, and swollen or slender roots, are better put into cultivar groups than sspp.