Torilis arvensis

Spreading hedge-parsley is an annual plant, but may occasionally occur as a biennial, and flowers from July to September (2). Dispersal is carried out by animals, the seeds germinate in autumn or spring, and are able to stay dormant in the soil for a number of years (1).

Spreading hedge-parsley is usually an upright-growing plant, which has two or three-lobed leaves with toothed edges (2). The flowers are either white or pink and are arranged in clusters called umbels (2).

This adventive annual plant is about 2' tall, branching occasionally. The stems are slender and round. They are more or less covered with fine hairs that are white and short. The alternate leaves are pinnately or bipinnately compound, and have petioles that are long and slender. These leaves have a triangular shape in outline and a fern-like appearance, spanning up to 6" long and 4" across (excluding the petioles) and becoming smaller in size as they ascend the stems. Some of the upper leaves near the inflorescence are lanceolate or narrowly ovate. The leaflets of the compound leaves are trifoliate. They have rather slender with wedge-shaped bottoms, while their margins are cleft or coarsely toothed. The upper surface of each leaflet is sparsely covered with short white hairs. The upper stems terminate in compound umbels of small white flowers on long naked stalks. Each compound umbel is about 2–3" across, consisting of about 8 umbellets. The base of each compound umbel is usually without bracts, although sometimes there is a single linear bract. An umbellet has about 8 flowers and a similar number of small linear bracts at its base. Each flower is about 1/8" across, with 5 white petals and 5 stamens. The blooming period usually occurs from early to mid-summer and lasts about a month. This plant has a tendency to sprawl because of the weight of the umbels of flowers on their long slender stalks. Upon maturity, each flower is replaced by a single seed. This seed is oblong and has a bur-like covering of bristles. It is initially rosy to whitish green in appearance, but later turns brown. The bristles are straight to slightly curved; they do not have hooked tips. The root system consists of a taproot. This plant spreads by a reseeding itelf, and it often forms colonies.

Common Hedge Parsley grows in similar habitats and has a similar appearance to Daucus carota (Wild Carrot). However, it is a shorter plant that blooms earlier in the year. The leaves and stems of Common Hedge Parsley are more or less covered with fine white hairs, while the foliage of Wild Carrot is nearly hairless. Even more significantly, the floral bracts of Common Hedge Parsley are either absent or inconspicuous, while the floral bracts of Wild Carrot are quite long, abundant, and conspicuous. The most distinctive characteristic of Torilis spp. is the bur-like seeds, which are often rosy-green in appearance and have a dense covering of fine bristles. It can be a major inconvenience to walk through a colony of these plants, as the abundant bur-like seeds cling tenaciously to clothing and are difficult to remove. For a long time, Common Hedge Parsley was incorrectly identified as Torilis japonica (Japanese Hedge Parsley). However, this latter species has about 8 linear bracts at the base of each compound umbel, and the bristles of its seeds have hooked tips. While Japanese Hedge Parsley occurs in Illinois, it far less common than Common Hedge Parsley. As a result of this misidentification, the distribution records within the state include observations of both species.

Erect annual, up to 1 m but usually much smaller. Stem terete, glabrous, finely grooved. Leaves variable, from 3-foliolate to 2-pinnate and fern-like, covered with appressed bristly white hairs; margin variously dentate or subentire. Inflorescences terminal and lateral compound umbels. Ultimate umbels few-flowered. Flowers white. Fruit 3-5 mm, ovoid with long spiny hairs, blackish green when ripe.

arvensis: of cultivated fields

Common Hedge Parsley occurs primarily in southern, central, and NE Illinois, where it is occasional to locally common. In NW Illinois, it is rare or absent (see Distribution Map). This species is adventive from Eurasia, and it appears to be spreading throughout the state. Habitats include thickets, woodland borders, weedy meadows, areas along railroads and roadsides, gravelly areas along streams, and waste areas. Disturbed habitats are preferred, including degraded prairies and woodlands that have been recently logged.

Nile Valley North of Nubia (Delta), Nile Valley North of Nubia, Nubia, Mareotic sector and North Sinai.

Southern Europe, the Mediterranean region, extending south through tropical Africa to the Cape; also occurring in other tropical areas and as a weed elsewhere.

Canada

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

United States

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

This plant is found throughout much of western, central and southern Europe and reaches into south-western Asia. In the north-west of Europe, however, the species is in decline and is threatened in many areas (1). The decline of this species in Britain has been one of the most dramatic of any arable weed (4).

Torilis arvensis (Huds.) Link:
Brazil (South America)
Gabon (Africa & Madagascar)
United States (North America)
South Africa (Africa & Madagascar)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

This species has been reported from Shalizan, Kurram Valley by Aitchison

Common Hedge Parsley occurs primarily in southern, central, and NE Illinois, where it is occasional to locally common. In NW Illinois, it is rare or absent (see Distribution Map). This species is adventive from Eurasia, and it appears to be spreading throughout the state. Habitats include thickets, woodland borders, weedy meadows, areas along railroads and roadsides, gravelly areas along streams, and waste areas. Disturbed habitats are preferred, including degraded prairies and woodlands that have been recently logged.

This species usually appears with autumn-sown cereals, but occasionally may be found with other arable crops (4). It can also occur on disturbed or waste ground, and seems to prefer calcareous clay, but can grow on a broad range of soil types (4).

Torilis arvensis (Field Hedge Parsley) introduced
(the butterfly sucks nectar; this observation is from Fothergill & Vaughn)

Butterflies
Nymphalidae: Danaus plexippus sn (FV)

Like other members of the Carrot family, the small white flowers attract various insects, including small bees, flies, wasps, and beetles. The caterpillars of the butterfly Papilio polyxenes asterias (Black Swallowtail) feed on the foliage. The bur-like covering of the seeds clings readily to the fur of mammals, the feathers of birds, and the clothing of humans. Thus, animals help to distribute the seeds far and wide. The foliage is not known to be toxic, and may be eaten occasionally by mammalian herbivores.

Local

Annual.

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 9
Specimens with Barcodes: 11
Species With Barcodes: 1

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

Rounded Global Status Rank: GNR - Not Yet Ranked

Classified as Nationally Scarce in Great Britain (1).

Many agricultural 'weeds' have suffered a precipitous decline in the UK. The main cause of these declines has been agricultural changes associated with intensification, such as the increased use of chemical herbicides and fertilisers, the loss of field-margin refuges, and changes in traditional crop rotation techniques (1).

Spreading hedge-parsley is a UK Biodiversity Action Plan priority species, for which Plantlife, the wild plant conservation charity, is the lead partner (4). The Species Action Plan aims to maintain all current populations and help the species to become re-established in at least eight former sites by 2003. At present, spreading hedge-parsley is known to occur in at least one Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) (1).

The preference is full sun, mesic to dry conditions, and a rather heavy soil containing gravel or clay. Because this plant often grows in soil containing limestone gravel, it appears to tolerate alkaline conditions. It matures quickly during the growing season, produces flowers and seeds, and then dies, although the stems remain more or less erect for some time.