''Anthriscus'' (chervils) is a common plant genus of the family

Apiaceae Apiaceae () or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus ''Apium,'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot, or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering p ...

, growing in

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and temperate parts of

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. It comprises 15 species. The genus grows in meadows and verges on slightly wet porous soils. One species, '' Anthriscus cerefolium'' is cultivated and used in the kitchen to flavor foods. ''Anthriscus'' species are used as food plants by the

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

species including the

mouse moth The mouse moth (''Amphipyra tragopoginis'') is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is a widespread species with a Holarctic distribution. Distribution Europe (except the extreme north, and not occurring in the south of Spain, Sicily, or the Balka ...

(recorded on cow parsley). The hollow

stem Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

is erect and branched, ending in compound umbels of small white or greenish

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are bipinnate or tripinnate.

Species of ''Anthriscus''

* '' Anthriscus africana'' Hook. f. (Africa) * '' Anthriscus caucalis'' M. Bieb. - Bur chervil (native to Africa and Eurasia, introduced elsewhere) * '' Anthriscus cerefolium'' (L.) Hoffm. - Garden chervil, French parsley (native to Eurasia, introduced elsewhere) * '' Anthriscus fumarioides'' (Waldst. & Kit.) Spreng. (Albania, Greece, Italy, Yugoslavia) * '' Anthriscus glacialis'' Lipsky (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan) * '' Anthriscus kotschyi'' Fenzl ex Boiss. (Transcaucasus, Turkey) * '' Anthriscus lamprocarpa'' Boiss. (Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Turkey) * '' Anthriscus mollis'' Boiss. & Reut. * '' Anthriscus nemorosa'' (M. Bieb.) Spreng (Africa and Eurasia) * '' Anthriscus nitida'' (Wahlenb.) Garcke (Europe) * '' Anthriscus ruprechtii'' Boiss. (Transcaucasus, Turkey) * '' Anthriscus schmalhausenii'' (Albov) Koso-Pol. (Transcaucasus) * '' Anthriscus sylvestris'' (L.) Hoffm. - Wild chervil (native to Africa and Eurasia, introduced elsewhere) * '' Anthriscus tenerrima'' Boiss. & Spruner (Greece, Turkey) * '' Anthriscus velutinus'' Sommier & Levier (Transcaucasus)

Etymology

The name is from the Latin ''Anthriscus'' and Greek ''anthriskos'', names for chervil, and may be connected to the Greek ''athēr'', the "beard" of

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

References

External links

Anthriscus Plant Information
{{Authority control Apioideae Apioideae genera