recognise this plant?

[Cahill]

i`ve got some plants/weeds growing in the field and wondered if anyone knew what they are(sorry,have no pics yet)

at a distance they look like cow parsley but on closer inspection the little white flowers are smaller.the leaves of this plant resemble the greenery of parsnips.

(the field is rough grazed in the winter and i hope to improve it soon)

thanks

 

[YorksG]

Hemlock has similar flowers to cow parsley, as does giant hog weed. I would check quickly and maybe post a pic on here.

 

[Donkeymad]

Hemlock looks very similar to cow parsley but shouldn't be out yet. However, with the craziness of weather and flowers these days, I would look it up for the differences.

 

[misterjinglejay]

Hemlock has similar flowers but has purple splodges on the stem. Nasty plant.

 

[Ravenwood]

Do you have a water course or wet area in the field - if this is dropwort water hemlock - its deadly poisonous. Please be careful, we lost a fabulous pony to this.

http://www.british-wild-flowers.co.uk/00%20John%20Somerville/Water-dropwort,-Hemlock-4.jpg

 

[Cahill]

thank you all.(will have a closer look to see if we`re on the right track)
q2......best way to get rid of please?

 

[hadfos]

The poisonous 1 has a resemblance to bracken leaves,cow parsley has very wide leaves,get the ragfork out,great for all weeds

 

[trundle]

If it looks superficially like cow parsley but the flowers are smaller then it does sound rather like hemlock. Hemlock has stems with reddish-purple splotches on, like this;

and its flowers look like this

Cow parsley flowers look more like this;

If it is hemlock, get rid of it sharpish ! Make sure you wear gloves when you dig it out (and use a ragfork to get rid of as much of the root structure as possible) and preferably burn it. Its nasty stuff and very, very poisonous.

 

[Cahill]

thanks,what sprays are there for it and when is the best time to spray?