Wild Parsnip
Family: Parsley, Apiaceae.
Habitat: Wastelands, wet sites, roadsides and pastures, undisturbed ground.
Life cycle: Biennial, forming a rosette the first year and producing flowers and seed in the second.
First Year Growth Habit: Rosette of basal leaves. Large, three-lobed leaves resemble celery.
Second Year Growth Habit: 2-5 feet, branched, flowering plant.
Leaves: Alternate, pinnately compound with coarse saw-tooth edges; deeply lobed and not hairy. Up to 18 inches long.
Stem: Hairy and grooved.
Flower: May-August (second year). Many small flowers with five yellow or white petals borne in umbrella shaped terminals – gives rise to yellow seed clusters, 2-6 inches across.
Root: Fleshy taproot.
Similar plants: Second-year plant is somewhat similar to poison hemlock (Conium maculatum). The leaves of poison hemlock are usually more finely divided and its stems are hollow and purplish.
The problem is…. Wild parsnip produces huge amounts of seed, allowing it to persist and spread. NOTE: Although wild parsnip has edible roots, it should be avoided because of the possibility of confusion with poison hemlock. Additionally, the leaves of wild parsnip cause a painful and potentially serious rash on some people. Skin sensitivity is greatest at flowering time.
Seedling
Leaves
Stem
Flower
Currently there are 21 weeds on the Ohio Prohibited Noxious Weed List:
- Shattercane (Sorghum bicolor) – February 8
- Russian thistle (Salsola Kali var. tenuifolia) – February 22
- Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense L. (Pers.))
- Wild parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) – May 21
- Wild carrot (Queen Anne’s lace) (Daucus carota L.)
- Oxeye daisy (Chrysanthermum leucanthemum var. pinnatifidum) – May 3
- Wild mustard (Brassica kaber var. pinnatifida)
- Grapevines: when growing in groups of one hundred or more and not pruned, sprayed,cultivated, or otherwise maintained for two consecutive years. – February 15
- Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense L. (Scop.)) – March 29
- Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum)
- Cressleaf groundsel (Senecio glabellus)
- Musk thistle (Carduus nutans) – March 26
- Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) – April 17
- Mile-A-Minute Weed (Polygonum perfoliatum) – March 7
- Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) – March 14
- Apple of Peru (Nicandra physalodes) – February 28
- Marestail (Conyza canadensis)
- Kochia (Bassia scoparia) – May 1
- Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri)
- Kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata) – April 11
- Japanese Knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum) – April 2
Each week, for the next 21 weeks, I will post information and pictures on how to identify these invasive and harmful plants.