Comments

Water Hemlock is a reasonably attractive and eloquent plant, while the flowers provide nectar to many beneficial insects. It is fairly easy to distinguish Water Hemlock from other members of the Carrot family because of its double compound leaves and rather large leaflets that are rarely lobed. Many other members of the Carrot family have only simple compound leaves, or their leaflets are much smaller in size, or their leaflets are deeply lobed. On Water Hemlock, the lateral veins of the leaflets extend to the notches between the teeth, rather than to their tips, along the leaf margins. Apparently, no other member of the Carrot family in Illinois has this characteristic.