1. Chaerophyllum procumbens (L.) Crantz (wild chervil)

Pl. 204 a, b; Map 847

Stems 10–60 cm long, erect to more commonly spreading to loosely ascending, glabrous or sparsely hairy toward the base, sometimes also at the nodes. Leaf blades 1–12 cm long, glabrous or the undersurface sparsely hairy along the veins, the ultimate segments 1–8 mm long, 1–4 mm wide. Rays 0.3–1.5 cm long at flowering, elongating to 5.5 cm at fruiting. Flowers 2–6 in each umbellet, sessile or the stalks to 2 mm long at flowering, these elongating unequally to 11 mm as the fruits develop, the fruit stalks uniformly linear, slender. Fruits 5–10 mm long. 2n=22. March–May.

Scattered to common nearly throughout the state (northeastern U.S. and adjacent Canada west to Iowa and Arkansas). Bottomland forest, mesic upland forests, banks of spring branches, streams, and rivers, bluffs, and occasionally margins of glades; also pastures, margins of crop fields, fencerows, railroads, roadsides, yards, and moist, disturbed areas.

Chaerophyllum procumbens is often classified into two varieties (Mathias and Constance, 1944–1945; Steyermark, 1963). The var. shortii Torr. & A. Gray has hairy fruits that tend to taper toward the tip, whereas var. procumbens has glabrous fruits that are narrowed more uniformly. These variants occur together throughout the range of the species, and plants with hairy and glabrous fruits are found growing intermingled in many populations. Thus recognition of these minor variants seems unwarranted.