Wild Parsnip

Pastinaca sativa

Please keep in mind that it is illegal to uproot a plant without the landowner's consent and care should be taken at all times not to damage wild plants. Wild plants should never be picked for pleasure and some plants are protected by law.
For more information please download the BSBI Code of Conduct PDF document.

Plant Data

Flowering Months:

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Order:

Apiales

Family:

Apiaceae (Carrot)

Also in this family:

Alexanders, Burnet-saxifrage, Common Hogweed, Cow Parsley, Edible Carrot, Fool's Watercress, Garden Parsley, Giant Hogweed, Greater Burnet-saxifrage, Ground Elder, Hemlock, Hemlock Water Dropwort, Lesser Marshwort, Lesser Water Parsnip, Parsley Water Dropwort, Pignut, Pink Masterwort, Rock Samphire, Sanicle, Sea Holly, Sweet Cicely, Upright Hedge Parsley, Wild Angelica, Wild Carrot, Wild Fennel

Type:

Flower

Life Cycle:

Biennial

Maximum Size:

1 metre tall

Habitats:

Farmland, grassland, meadows, roadsides, wasteland.

Flower:

Yellow, 5 petals

Yellow umbels to 10cm wide, no bracts.

Fruit:

Oval, flat and narrowly winged, up to 7mm long.

Leaves:

Once or twice pinnate, alternate leaves with toothed margins, approximately 40cm in length. The leaflets are broad and sometimes lobed. Similar looking is the subspecies "hortensis" (the Garden Parsnip). Garden Parsnip has a few short, straight hairs, rather than the many long and wavy hairs of Wild Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa ssp. sativa).

Aroma:

Smells pungent, similar to cultivated Parsnip.

Other Names:

Bird's-nest, Common Parsnip, Field Parsnip, Hart's-eye, Poison Parsnip.

Frequency (UK):

Occasionally seen

Distribution Map

Reproduced by kind permission of the BSBI.

Click to open an Interactive Map