Nearctica - Eastern Wildflowers - Apiaceae - Cowbane (Oxypolis rigidior)

Cowbane

(Oxypolis rigidior)

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.

Sium suave

Hemlock Water Parsnip has well developed bracts at the base of the umbel.

Berula erecta

Cut-leaved Water Parsnip has conspicuous, well developed bracts at the base of the umbel.

Cowbane (Oxypolis rigidior)

Identification: Flowers white, in an umbel. Seeds flattened with ridges and marginal wings. Base of umbel without bracts or with small, insignificant ones. Stem flattened. Leaves dark green divided into pairs of leaflets. Leaflets variably toothed. Base of leaf expanded and clasping stem. Plant 2 to 6 feet in height.

Distribution: Throughout most of the eastern United States area except New England. Also found in Texas and Oklahoma.

Habitat: Cowbane is a species of swamps, marshes, and other wet places.

Cowbane (Oxypolis rigidior)

Similar Species:

The flattened seeds with wing-like margins are highly distinctive if you are lucky enough to find a plant in seed.

Hemlock Water Parsnip (Sium suave)

Cut-leaved Water Parsnip (Berula erecta)

Similar Species