ABC Wednesday - U

All right, it's not quite Wednesday, but it's near enough for me.

This week, we've reached the letter U

U
is for
UMBEL

An umbel is a particular arrangement of flowers on a plant. They grow in groups, and the flower stems all grow from about the same place on the main stem, with the youngest flowers in the centre. This means the centre can still be in tight bud while the outer flowers are wide open.
Carrots and parsnips are umbellifers.

So is parsley.

While thinking of what to post this week I found some of last year's parsley growing in a corner and flowering well.

A rather pretty flower head, even if the colouring is far from showy.

Funnily enough, I spotted another umbelliferous plant in an old tub, obviously self-seeded from some time ago.
I've cropped this photo so as to show you the dainty flower buds just beginning to open - believe me, you don't want to be shown the surrounding mess!

This pretty little thing is a carrot flower!

So now I've bored you all with my UMBELS, wander over to Mrs Nesbit's Place to see what other people have found for U. It's bound to be interesting.