I have not seen this plant growing around here untill a couple of years ago. I have seen it growing from an elevation of 100 feet to 2400 feet and maybe more. It seems to prefer shade to partial shade and doesn't seem to require too much moisture. I've seen it growing to almost 3 feet in height. It looks kind of like a small tree especially when it is younger though clearly it's not. I always find it growing in "patches" that is to say I've never found one growing by itself. It gets small white flowers which I don't have pictures of. Not sure what other info to give. I have looked everywhere but somehow have not been able to identify this plant on my own. Thanks for any help you can give me !
Compare this plant against Conium maculatum, or poison hemlock. See: Conium maculatum via OSU's Weeds of the Carrot Family Conium maculatum via Oregon Department of Agriculture's Noxious Weed Control
Wow, that might just be it. Half of the pictures I've found almost look exactly l like it and the other half not so much so. I don't ever remember seeing it with anything other than a green stem and I see that it is very common that it has has red or some other color on the stem. Some of the other differences might be due to size and development. Now that you mention it I do remember it smelling like carrot/wild carrot/ celery. To think I wanted to find out what it was so I could grow more of it as I find it very pretty! I also like to photograph miniature sets and have been looking for something that would make a good 1/18 scale forest. These plants were almost perfect for it. Too bad! Thank you very much for your help and suggestion, that is probably what it is.
I wasn't being absolute with my ID -- it could be something similar (there are a few lookalikes). Might be worthwhile taking a leaf (handle unknown members of this family with gloves) to a state extension office for local "in-hand" determination (would be better if fruits were taken in as well).
It's not Conium maculatum - that has very distinctive red spots (maculatum = 'spotted') on the stems, which your plant doesn't have.
Check the difference between Cow parsley and Hemlock: http://www.torrens.org.uk/FFF/plants/A/Anthriscus/Sylvestris.html
