Hedge parsley tries to look sweet
There's a very nice looking plant that graces the yards and fields of Central Texas. It puts out dainty white flowers, almost like sprouts of lace. But then watch out! Those pretty little flowers turn into nasty burs that catch on everything and can ruin your socks, gloves and anything else they get into.
[Picture: Hedge parsley in bloom]
Hedge parsley goes by other names, including beggar's tick and beggar's lice, but those names are also applied to other bur plants. By any name, hedge parsley is universally disliked by anyone who gardens. I can't tell how many times I've been picking out burs during a volunteer gardening event, when someone will walk by and say, "I hate those things!"
This plant also has pretty leaves. It's in the carrot family, and those leaves really give it away. Hedge parsley is a winter annual, but I don't recognize its early low-growing rosettes. It's enough to contain it by weeding when it bolts in the spring and becomes conspicuous.
When I first moved into this house, the backyard was full of hedge parsley. One good thing about this plant is that it is relatively easy to pull, unlike some of the grasses. I spent quite a bit of time pulling it, but finally the backyard was relatively clear.
Of course, just like cleavers, this is a plant that never really goes away. Clear the yard of it, and next season the cats and squirrels will have brought in new seeds for a new crop. Tenacious burs like these are a big evolutionary success, making sure the plant spreads well year after year.
Hedge parsley burs are worse than cleavers. Cleavers sometimes irritate my skin, but they don't get stuck in fabric like hedge parsley. It can take some serious work to get all those nasty little burs out of socks, shoelaces, and gardening gloves.
I'm not taken in by that sweet demeanor. When I see them, they have to go!
