A very variable plant with a solid, ridged stem. Leaves triangular in outline, 2 to 4 pinnate, the segments long stalked, often with a reddish tip, leaflets finely toothed. Flowers pale yellow 1.5 mm, in umbels with 5 to 15 rays, bracts sometimes, but not always present.

Pale yellow flowers, pinnate leaves, fruits oval, ridged

Photograph of the pant in its habitat, showing leaves and side-on view of umbel

Rough or damp grassland, old meadows, roadsides and railway verges.

June to August.

Perennial.

Mainly in central and south east England, local elsewhere. Absent from Scotland and most of Wales.

Occasional in Leicestershire and Rutland, seldom found in large numbers. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 151 of the 617 tetrads.

In the current Checklist (Jeeves, 2011) it is listed as Native, old grassland, occasional