Vascular Plants of North Carolina

Account for Hairy-fruit Chervil - Chaerophyllum tainturieri Hooker

Section 6 » Order Apiales » Family Apiaceae

Author	Hooker
Distribution	Throughout the Coastal Plain and nearly all of the Piedmont, but seemingly absent in the far northwestern corner of the Piedmont. Found in the central and southern Mountains, but absent in the northern portions. This is a Southern species, ranging north only to DE and KS, and south to central FL and AZ, being found in most counties in many states.
Abundance	Common and widespread in the Coastal Plain and nearly all of the Piedmont; fairly common to common in the southern Mountains, but nearly absent in the northwestern part of the state.
Habitat	This is a ruderal species of roadsides, fields, wooded edges, and other disturbed ground, usually in mesic soil conditions. It often grows in openings and disturbed ground within bottomlands and rich woods, where it can be confused with C. procumbens.
Phenology	Blooms in March and April, and fruits in April and May.
Identification	This is a very familiar "weed", with an erect stem to about 1.5-2 feet tall, usually with a few branches in the upper portions. The stem is quite hispid, often with white hairs. It has a few alternate leaves, but each is quite large and doubly- or triply-pinnately divided into numerous "lacy" leaf segments. The segments are pointed and hairy below, as opposed to somewhat more rounded lobes and glabrous leaflets in the similar C. procumbens. The flowers are in small umbels in leaf axils or terminal on branches, with only a few small white flowers per "umbellet". The most similar species is C. procumbens, which grows only in rich hardwood forests away from any disturbances, is leaning to decumbent, and has glabrous stem and leaves. This is a species that can be seen almost daily in most part of the state, a familiar spring-season herb of weedy places.
Taxonomic Comments	None
Other Common Name(s)	Southern Chervil, Tainturier's Chervil
State Rank	S5
Global Rank	G5
State Status
US Status
USACE-agcp	FAC link
USACE-emp	FAC link

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