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CAN YOU TELL THESE APART?

It self-seeds into herb beds looking like flat-leaf parsley. It is in the hemlock family

SAFE

parsley

Petroselinum crispum

fresh herb smell, bright green leaves, no bracts under the flower clusters

TOXIC

fool's parsley

Aethusa cynapium

unpleasant smell when crushed, long drooping bracts hanging beneath each flower cluster

How to tell them apart

Fresh-herb smell, no bracts = parsley. Foul smell with long drooping bracts under the flowers = fool's parsley.

You can tell them apart right now. The real question is whether you'll still know in three weeks — BloomEDU quizzes you on this pair until the name sticks.

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BloomEDU pairs AI plant ID with spaced-repetition quizzes.

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