Cow Parsley

This has taken over the cattle pasture in the field adjacent to our home. it will need to be cut down I guess before the pedigree herd of yearling Irish Dexter cattle arrive to be fattened up over the summer

Anthriscus sylvestris, aka wild chervil,wild beaked parsley, keck, or Queen Anne's lace, is a herbaceous biennial or short-lived perennial.
It is also sometimes called mother-die for reasons that I do not understand.
Native to Europe, it is related to other plants such as parsley, carrot, hemlock and hogweed.

These specimens stand to about five feet tall, branching to their attractive umbels of small white flowers. This month is the peak of their flowering time.

Cow Parsley thrives in sunny to semi-shaded locations in meadows and at the edges of hedgerows and woodland. It is a particularly common sight generally.
It is sufficiently common and fast-growing to be considered a nuisance weed in gardens. I am pleased to say that despite its proximity it has yet to invade our garden.
Cow parsley's ability to grow rapidly through rhizomes and to produce large quantities of seeds in a single growing season has made it an invasive species in many areas of the United States.

Cow parsley can be mistaken for several similar-looking poisonous plants, among them poison hemlock and fool's parsley. Some consider it edible, though having a somewhat unpleasant flavour, sharper than garden chervil, with a hint of carrot.

Cow parsley is rumoured to be a natural mosquito repellent when applied directly to the skin.

I have not tried that yet!... and am aware that it can be confused with giant cow parsley/giant hogweed, the sap of which can cause severe burns after coming in contact with the skin!