COW PARSNIP

HERACLEUM MAXIMUM

Parsley family, Apiaceae

Perennial herb

With robust hollow stems reaching 8-feet tall and huge leaves, it’s obvious why the scientific name refers to Hercules. Note the leaves with 3 broad lobes and the umbrella-shaped clusters of small, white flowers. CAUTION–the foliage contains caustic sap that can cause a sun-sensitive rash and blisters.

FLOWERS: June–August. Round to flat-topped clusters, 4–12 inches wide (10–30 cm), umbrella-shaped with 12–30 rays up to 5 inches long (12 cm); flowers with 5 notched petals to 3/8-inch long (9 mm), those on the outer edge of the umbel often noticeably larger and deeply notched.

LEAVES: Alternate. Leaves with hollow stems (petioles) 4–16 inches long (10–40 cm), are hairy and sheathing around the plant stem; palmately compound with 3 large leaflets 4–12 inches (10–30 cm) long and wide, with pointed lobes; lower leaf surface thinly woolly, margins toothed.

HABITAT: Moist sandy, gravelly soils, mountain streams, wet meadows, shady areas, roadside ditches; aspen, spruce-fir forests.

ELEVATION: 7,100–10,400 feet.

RANGE: Widespread in mountainous regions of North America.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Water Parsnip, Sium suave, and Water Hemlock, Cicuta maculata, in similar range and habitats, also have umbrella-shaped clusters (umbels) of small white flowers but both have pinnately compound leaves with narrow leaflets along midrib.

NM COUNTIES: Northern mountains in high-elevation moist habitats: Colfax, Harding, Los Alamos, Mora, Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Taos.