The Herbarium
Part XII · Lookalikes
Field pair
Hemlock for dill
Poison hemlock and Dill — take this sheet to the bed, not a guess to the kettle.
Deadly mix-upKitchen
Hemlock for dill
A feathery roadside weed is not a pickle herb. Dill is annual and yellow; hemlock is a biennial tower with white umbels.
Dill is blue-green, anise-soft, and the umbel is flat and yellow. Hemlock is taller, white, purple-blotched, and the leaf is triangular, not thread-fine. Never pick an unknown umbel for the jar.
The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.