Aphanes australis Rydberg

Slender Parsley Piert

Herb

Annual

Vascular

Slender Parsley Piert is an introduced cool season annual in the Rose family (Rosaceae). It is native to Europe. In Alabama it can be found statewide. Slender Parsley Piert occurs in lawns, in cemeteries, on roadsides, and in other disturbed, often sandy habitats. It is a winter annual with a taproot. Stems are erect or ascending, unbranched or branched from near the base, and 1-4 inches in length. The stems are green in color with appressed hairs. Leaves are alternate, petiolate, pubescent, and palmately dissected. The leaves are subtended by large stipules ½ to nearly as large as the leaf. Flowers are produced in a dense 3-7 flowered clusters opposite the leaf. Individual flowers have 4 green sepals, no petals, 1 stamen, and 1 pistil. The fruit is an achene enclosed in the pubescent hypanthium. Slender Parsley Piert is common in Alabama but because of its small size and inconspicuous flowers it is often overlooked.—A. Diamond

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Not Native

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