Hemlock Water Dropwort

Oenanthe crocata

Plant Data

Order:

Apiales

Family:

Apiaceae (Carrot)

Flowering Months:

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

Flowers:

White umbels, usually with lower bracts, up to 4cm wide.

Fruit:

Cylindrical fruits, ridged, 2 styles, up to 6mm across.

Leaves:

The basal leaves are pinnate with 3 to 4 leaflets. They are broadly oval in shape and toothed. The stem leaves have 2 to 3 leaflets and are not as broad as the basal leaflets. The stems themselves are hollow. In my personal opinion, the leaflets look a little similar to parsley.

Maximum Size:

125cm tall.

Foraging Notes:

Possibly the most posionous wild flower in the UK. Even the smallest amounts of this plant can cause paralysis and death. Not only that but this plant can be very easily confused with many other species in the Carrot family.
Never consume a wild plant unless you are 100% certain that it is safe to eat and you know that you have identified it correctly.

Aroma:

When mature the smell of these plants are said to resemble that of parsley.

Other Names:

Balder Root, Ban Dock, Beldrum, Bendock, Bilders, Cowbane, Dead Tongue, Deadman's Cress, Dean's Fingers, Deathin, Eltrot, Five-fingered Root, Five-fingered Rot, Hemlock Dropwort, Hemlock Wort, Horsebane, Water Dropwort, Water Hemlock, Water Lovage, Water Sapwort, Wild Rue, Yellow Water Dropwort.

Habitats:

Ditches, grassland, marshes, meadows, mudflats, ponds, riverbanks, wetland.