Scandix pecten-veneris L.

Shepherd's Needle; Venus' Comb; Crow's Needles

Herb

Annual

Vascular

Venus' Comb is an introduced herbaceous annual in the Carrot family (Apiaceae). It is native to Europe, western and central Asia, and the Maghreb region of northern Africa. In Alabama it can be found primarily in the Black Belt region of central and western Alabama. It occurs on roadsides, in fields and pastures, and in other open, disturbed sites with calcareous soils. Venus' Comb is an herbaceous annual with a tap root. The stems are green in color, freely branched, hollow, and pubescent. Leaves are alternate, petiolate, and finely bi- to tri-pinnately compound. The ultimate leaf segments are liner-lanceolate and pubescent along the margins. Flowers are produced in simple or compound umbels. The umbels are terminal and lateral with 4-10 perfect flowers per umbellet. Each flower has 5 white petals and a long style with an enlarged base. The fruit is elongate and cylindrical with a long beak lined with comb-like bristles. The mericarps are ribbed and reniform in cross section. In Europe Venus' Comb is eaten as a vegetable and in salads.—A. Diamond

**

Not Native

**