Cow Parsnip

(Heracleum maximum)

 

Color Photograph: Midwestern wetland flora: Field office guide to plant species. U.S.D.A. Soil Conservation Service, Midwest National Technical Center.

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

 

Cow Parsnip (Heracleum maximum)

Identification: Plant large, hairy, with a bad smell. Flowers white, in a large, diffuse umbel. Petals notched, sometimes tinted with violet. Stems hollow, up to 2 inches in diameter at the base. Leaves large, palmate, heavily toothed or divided into three segments. Base of leaf expanded, clasping the stem as in celery. Plant 4 to 10 feet in height.

Distribution: Throughout most of North America except the southeastern United States.

Habitat: Cow Parsnip is found on a variety of rich, wet habitats such as moist meadows.

Flowering period: June to August.

Cow Parsnip (Heracleum maximum)

Similar Species:

The large size of this species coupled with the expanded, clasping leaves, and notched petals should readily identify this species.

Similar Species

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