If you, like me, are the sort of person to go out on a summer’s day and admire the pretty, harmless-looking white flowers at the side of a path and think to yourself, “Didn’t my mom tell me that this was Queen Anne’s Lace, and that the roots are edible and taste a lot like carrots?” then this helpful and informative post may be for you.
Because some plants look harmless but are very much not. Poison hemlock is one such plant.
Beware Poison Hemlock, A Queen Anne’s Lace Look-Alike
Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) is an invasive, toxic plant. It is native to the United States but has naturalized in many places. Its flowers look strikingly like those of Queen Anne’s lace (Daucus carota) because both are umbellifers belonging to the carrot family. However, the resemblances end right there.
I have a lot of fun identifying all of the edible plants around us, most of which have been categorized as weeds by Big Lawn™ but are fabulous in their own right. That said, it very much pays to know whether you’re looking at an underrated food source for pollinators and people, or the plant that killed Socrates.
Unsure? I recommend what I think of as my mushroom rule: If you aren’t 1000% certain, move on.
Just in case!
(Honestly, I never pick mushrooms. They’re both fascinating and scary, and 1000% is a lot of percents. And thanks to Nomadic Noesis for the idea!)
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J.R. Johnson 
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