WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

The 12–36-inch tall, hairy stem bears flowers in an umbrella-shaped cluster of smaller round clusters. Note the triple-compound leaves with parsley-like lobes, and numerous bristly hairs covering the leaves and usually unbranched stem. Many garden species of this family are supermarket stables, but native species vary from hardly edible to deadly poisonous.

FLOWER: March–May. Dense, umbrella-shaped (umbel) heads of flowers are made up of numerous smaller clusters on stems to 1 1/2-inches long. Each umbellate cluster is 3/8–1 3/4-inch wide with 5–12 white flowers. Outer flowers in the umbellate clusters often have petals of various sizes. The numerous bracts below the flower head give the dried cluster a bird-nest appearance. Fruit is an oblong seed, 1/8-inch long lined with bristles.

LEAVES: Alternate. Leaf stem (petiole) hairy, 1 1/2–6-inches long; blades triple-compound, 1–4-inches long with parsley-like lobes.

HABITAT: Dry rocky, sandy soils of fields, roadsides, disturbed areas.

ELEVATION: 4,000–5,500 feet.

RANGE: AZ, CA, NM, OR, TX, WA, and Southern U.S.

SIMILAR SPECIES: The introduced Queen Anne’s Lace, D. carota, sparsely scattered in both extreme north and south NM, has sparsely-hairy branching stems and usually a rusty-colored flower in the center of the flower head.

NM COUNTIES: SW NM in mid-elevation, disturbed, dry habitats: Dona Ana, Hidalgo, Luna, Sierra.