Wild Carrot & Parsley Dropwort

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FARMING PASTURE WEED WATCH

Wild carrot & parsley dropwort WALK OR DRIVE around the countryside Wild carrot. and you’ll often notice white flowers clustered at the top of tall, green stems. Parsley dropwort (Oenanthe pimpinelloides) and wild carrot (Daucus carota, carrot weed) are common and can be hard to tell apart. Adding to the confusion, there are other, similar-looking plants like hemlock and burdock. The carrots we enjoy eating are a sub- species of wild carrot; if you leave your garden varieties to mature, they’ll flower and set seed in a similar manner. Both these species invade pasture, replacing grass and clover. It’s possible wild carrot can taint milk, Why is it a weed? although cattle Both grow readily in pastures Parsley dropwort. don’t tend and downgrade hay value to graze it. Parsley Where is it found? dropwort is Parsley dropwort – mostly Upper suspected North Island The Wild carrot – nationwide Wild carrot to be toxic; differences • annual it belongs to Is it toxic? between • flowers August to May a plant family Wild carrot – edible and can wild carrot • often eaten by livestock, especially that includes be used as a herb or diuretic and parsley sheep, even when flowering some highly Parsley dropwort dropwort toxic members. – possibly toxic Parsley dropwort • perennial How to control • re-grows from a fibrous root WARNING system with black tubers each year these plants Many 2,4-D formulations don’t • flowers from October to April If there are not too many, hand-pulling have a withholding period • less palatable to livestock when is a good strategy. for grazing. However, it is close to flowering You can control wild carrot by topping recommended that stock do or mowing it before it flowers (because not re-enter a sprayed area it is an annual), but parsley dropwort until ALL poisonous weeds are may regrow. dead and have dried off. Many About Gary Spraying with a 2,4-D (eg, Baton) plants increase in sugar content Gary Bosley works as PGG Wrightson's provides good control of seedlings, but North Island technical specialist in as they wilt and die, becoming agronomy. He and his family live on is not effective as the plant gets bigger. more palatable to livestock. a 4ha lifestyle block south-east of Auckland. Whiskybottle, Kclarksphotography, Karayuschij | Dreamstime. Karayuschij Kclarksphotography, Whiskybottle, com