Wild Parsnip

(Pastinaca sativa)

 

Color Photograph: © by and courtesy of Kitty Kahout, Wisconsin State Herbarium

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Wild Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa)

Alien: Introduced from Europe.

Identification: Flowers yellow, arranged in an umbel. Stems flattened, ridged. Seeds with a distinctive pattern of ridges (see figures) Leaves divided into 5 to 15 sessile leaflets. Leaflets with irregular margins and coarsely toothed. Plant 2 to 5 feet in height.

Distribution:North America except for the southeastern United States.

Habitat: Wild Parsnip is an introduced, weedy species found in fields and along roadsides.

Flowering period: May to October.

Notes: Wild Parsnip is the wild variety of the familiar garden vegetable parsnips. The foliage contains a chemical increasing the photo-sensitivity of the skin in some individuals. Those unlucky enough to have this sensitivity may develop water-filled blisters on their skin after handling either the wild or domestic varieties of this species.

Wild Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa)

Similar Species:

The yellow flowers and compound leaves with 5 to 15 sessile, coarsely toothed leaves are distinctive.

Similar Species

No Similar Species