Gedweed is considered a stubborn weed. But it is much more than that. It is also known as a medicinal herb and can be of value in the kitchen with its parsley-like taste. What does Giersch look like?
How do you recognize groundweed?
Giersch can be recognized by its triply divided, jagged leaves, hollow triangular stems and inconspicuous white flower umbels. Its smell, when crushed, is similar to that of carrot and parsley. Attention: Do not confuse with poisonous umbelliferous plants such as hemlock, dog parsley or hogweed!
The leaves – the most striking feature
The most striking feature of gooseberry is its leaves. They are divided into petioles and leaf blades. The stem is up to 20 cm long and the leaf blade is divided into three leaflets.
The individual leaflets are blue-green to medium green in color and hairy underneath. The top is bare. While the shape of the leaflets is ovoid-elongated, their edge is jagged and their end tapers.
Flowers provide little information
The flowers of the gourd appear from May and can be present on isolated plants until September. It is difficult to distinguish the gourd from other plants by its flowers alone. There are lots of umbelliferous plants that resemble it.
Greedweed flowers have these properties:
- terminal on long stems
- flat umbels
- 10 to 20 small umbels per inflorescence
- white to slightly reddish
- numerous tiny individual flowers
- without bracts
- fivefold
- hermaphrodite
What do the fruits and seeds look like?
After the flowering period is over, the seed heads form. They don't look particularly spectacular with their initially green and later brownish color. In order to be able to correctly identify the goutweed by its fruits or seeds, you have to take a closer look!
The fruits are two-part split fruits. These are around 3 to 4 mm long. They are egg-shaped and smooth. Visually they are reminiscent of caraway. The reason is that gourd is closely related to caraway.
Other characteristics to correctly identify the gopher
But that's not all. There are a few other features that will help you recognize the gopher:
- triangular, hollow stem in cross section
- 1 to 3 mm thick, long, white roots
- Growth height between 70 and 100 cm (during flowering)
- early budding
- often wintergreen
- forms a lot of runners (usually not just one plant at the location, but several)
Where gopher is more commonly found – occurrence
It's not just the exterior that can serve as a key to identification. The presence of ground greed also helps with the identification. This wild herb grows primarily in hedges and bushes, in deciduous and mixed forests, on streams and river banks, on roadsides, in parks and in gardens. It loves shady locations and nitrogen-rich, moist soils.
Playing it safe: smell and taste test
If you are almost 100% sure that the plant in front of you is not hemlock, dog parsley or another poisonous member of the umbelliferous family, you can carry out the smell and taste test To nail down your purpose.
The gourd smells like a mixture of carrot and parsley when rubbed with your fingers. It is extremely tasty and is not affectionately known as forest parsley for nothing. Its taste is reminiscent of parsley or spinach. It is spicy, aromatic and fresh. The flowers taste sweet and the fruits have an unusual spiciness.
Do not confuse with beavernelle, wild carrot, hogweed and co
There are some plants that look very similar to groundweed. This includes, for example, elderberry. Its leaves are similar to those of the groundweed.
The beavers and hogweed also have foliage that looks similar to that of the ground hogweed. The wild carrot produces flower umbels that look like groundweed. Remember this if you want to fight the gopher!
Tip
Do not collect or use the greed ash until you have identified it 100% correctly! He has many poisonous relatives and mix-ups are common.