Water parsnip
Sium suave · Aquatic plants
Flowers or seeds · Photo: Steven Lamonde / CC BY
Also called Hemlock water parsnip
How to identify Water parsnip
- Leaves once divided into narrow toothed leaflets
- Leaflet veins run to the tooth tips
- White umbrella shaped flower clusters
- Ribbed stems
Similar plants
Water hemlock has veins ending in the notches between teeth; cutleaf water parsnip is smaller and sprawling.
Growth profile
| Growing season | Grows from spring, flowers July to September; submersed juvenile leaves are finely divided. |
|---|---|
| Starts growing | About 45 to 50 F water |
| Light | Full sun |
| Depth | Moist shoreline to about 1 1/2 feet of water |
| How it spreads | Seeds and fibrous roots |
| Habitat | Marshes, pond edges, ditches and slow streams. |
Why it matters in a lake
May be toxic to livestock and easily confused with deadly water hemlock.
Where it is found
- Idaho: Occasional
- Oregon: Occasional
- Wyoming: Occasional
Classification
| Kingdom | Plantae |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Tracheophyta |
| Class | Magnoliopsida |
| Order | Apiales |
| Family | Apiaceae |
| Scientific name | Sium suave |
Broadleaf cattail
Hardstem bulrush
Reed canarygrass
Purple loosestrife
Soft rush
Yellow flag iris
Broadleaf arrowhead
Western water hemlock
Beaked sedge
Baltic rushNeed a hand?
Is it taking over your lake?
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Idaho / Wyoming (208) 501-4531Oregon (541) 280-0596