Mystery 'umbellifer'

[TerryH]

Hi,
Can anyone help identify this 'umbellifer' I found in the wood this weekend? It's very small.. about half a metre high



I found just two of them close together in a recently opened up/light space. Pretty sure it's not cow parsley, before anyone says it, because that has got fern-like leaves and this one has got linear leaves. The flower head is less tightly packed too.
The nearest match I can find , perhaps even a dead-ringer, is Wild Dill / Yampah (Perideridia americana) http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/prairie/plantx/wild_dillx.htm which is just mad because that is native to North America !
The resemblance is uncanny though..

The petals, five of them, are slightly divided ....



Alternate, needle like leaves...



I'm wondering if it's escaped from someone's garden or if we've dropped some seeds here by mistake from a picnic (the seeds can be used as a seasoning .. bit like caraway .. but I don't know if they're used in commercial foodstuffs)

Hope there's a more rational explanation than that though ...

[greyman]

Our resident know it all (Mrs Greyman) suggests the plant is likely to be Conopodium Majus - Pignut to the rest of us! We've not seen any in our wood but if you Google pignut there's loads of info on the forager sites. They're not that easy to dig up as you have to follow the tiny root back to the 'nut'.
Happy hunting

[Wendelspanswick]

After 'Hashing' tonight through a wood abundant with wild garlic it looks similar to your picture?

[TerryH]

Thanks Greyman & Mrs Greyman.. that is indeed the one! I'm happy to have found some 'pignuts' here then. Probably won't go digging them up unless I find more than just these two plants. ( They'd probably go nicely with some of Wend's wild garlic though...)

Cheers

[greyman]

Good luck,I am a bit jealous as we've not found any