Can Anyone identify this please

Could be cow parsley, or some other umbelliferous plant- if it's not growing near water it is unlikely to be hemlock. If it is near a watercourse/marshy land, check how it smells when crushed. Hemlock is supposed to smell of mice.
 
SpeedyPony said:
Could be cow parsley, or some other umbelliferous plant- if it's not growing near water it is unlikely to be hemlock. If it is near a watercourse/marshy land, check how it smells when crushed. Hemlock is supposed to smell of mice.
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Stem is also speckled purple and round, whereas cow parsley is triangular and green gradient into purple. The latter is supposed to have a sweeter smell too.
 
Yesterday morning I took some photos of hemlock when we were on a walk. I think others have already provided pictures but it's time I had a lesson in posting a picture, so here they are. Husband is recovering from the session out in his shed. It's still Spring of course here, so it's in flower.

ETA: There is water in this area, btw.
 

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My plant ID app says with 23% chance of certainty poison hemlock, 17% chervil, 9% cow parsley (and then some other less likely possibilities) . It’s called PlantNet and is very good.
 
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I'm Dun said:
can you get a photo of the stem? Thats usually more telling than leaves for this family of plants
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^^^ Yeaph, this is what I'm thinking.

Everyone is saying "Cow Parsley", but my hunch is it just might not be; and if the stems of it have pink blotchy patches on it then it'll be Hemlock, which is a poisonous plant.

Somehow it doesn't just look right for Cow Parsley....... if the stems are not crimson-blotched, then my next guess would be Water Dropwort, which again is poisonous, and which (amazingly & stupidly) both horses and cattle will eat, they will then get a liking for it and then when maximum toxicity-level in their metabolism is reached, this can prove fatal. The roots of both Hemlock and Water Dropwort are particularly toxic; Water Dropwort roots in rivers can become dislodged and get washed either down-river or brought back via waves onto beaches, and dogs will pick them up and ingest them, with fatal consequences sadly.
 
It's interesting that the give away for Hemlock is its sploshly pink stems. I didn't even notice them when I was looking at it. But there they are in the photo, clear as day, and the next time I walk in the area where they are growing, I'll have a look at the stems IRL.

I'm also planning to have a sniff at the crushed up leaves but I'm a little chicken to risk it, knowing how dangerous this plant is. I want to know if it smells like mice - or a mouse cage, which is quite different.
 
Lois Lame said:
It's interesting that the give away for Hemlock is its sploshly pink stems. I didn't even notice them when I was looking at it. But there they are in the photo, clear as day, and the next time I walk in the area where they are growing, I'll have a look at the stems IRL.

I'm also planning to have a sniff at the crushed up leaves but I'm a little chicken to risk it, knowing how dangerous this plant is. I want to know if it smells like mice - or a mouse cage, which is quite different.
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Like a mouse cage, but really only the mature plants, and more noticeable when it's hot. Horses can as a rule tell the difference between it and CP at a thousand paces.
 
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