wild new england: Apiaceae, the Carrot Family aka Umbelliferae, the Parsley Family

The fresh young water hemlocks in the roadside ditches are very becoming this year, tall and lanky, quite innocent-looking. But for such a commonly occurring wild plant, most people seem unaware that it is considered to be the most violently toxic plant in North America. Grand mal seizures are followed by a quick death if only a tiny amount is consumed.

See how pretty it looks in the fall!

Worldwide, there are about 3320 species in the Parsley Family, only 44 of them occurring in Connecticut. They are all herbaceous, that is, none are woody plants. They range in size from low wetland creepers like the marsh pennywort, Hydrocotyle americana, shown below:

to the giant hogweed, Heracleum mantegazzianum, which may reach a height of 15 feet. Below see the close-up of its flower cluster (inflorescence) which is about the size of a dinner plate when fully open.

Here I took a shot of the main stem a couple of feet from the ground. This species of Heracleum can be problematic for humans as its sap contains a phototoxin which can cause severe burns on the skin and eyes. It is considered to be an invasive in our area.

Our native american cow parsnip, Heracleum maximum grows to about 9 feet along riversides.

The sheathing leaf-stem is one of the more easily-observed features common to most members of the Parsley Family. This species is SO similar in appearance to the introduced one above. The stem of this one, H. maximum, is more hairy and grooved while the H. mantegazzianum (2 shots above) is somewhat mottled with dark red spots.

I thought I’d spotted one recently on the Hop River and climbed through a mess of tall wetland brush to discover the Great Angelica – with large round (instead of dish-like) inflorescences. Also, instead of the large spreading leaves of Heracleum, its leaf is divided into many smaller leaflets.

Pinnately compound leaves of Angelica atropurpurea:

Another, though inconspicuous, characteristic shared by the Apiaceae is a 2-carpelled fruit. This small fruit, sometimes referred to as a mericarp, usually ribbed longitudinally like the familiar caraway “seed” used to flavor rye breads, is key in the identification of similar species within the family. In Gray’s Manual of Botany, the descriptions are accompanied by cool illustrations of the mature fruit entire and in cross-section.

In the above photograph of Daucus carota, Queen Anne's lace, you can just make out the barbed mericarps.

Below are the ripening mericarps of Cicuta maculata:

What often comes to mind when one thinks of the Parsley Family is the umbel-shaped inflorescence (hence the traditional family name Umbelliferae) - like Queen Anne’s lace and others shown below:

Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace)

Aethusa cynapium (fool's parsley) is toxic.

Zizia aurea, golden Alexander

another view of Daucus carota

Aegopodium podagraria (introduced and invasive but also edible as a salad or cooked green)

The tiny flower common to the Apiaceae is 5-petaled and 5-stamened, inserted upon a disk which crowns the ovary and the base of the two styles. I had a hard time trying to get a clear photo of this feature. This is the Daucus carota - again.

As Asa Gray stated in 1908, this is a “large and difficult family, some of the species innocent and aromatic, others with very poisonous properties.” The cultivated carrot is a subspecies of the beloved Daucus carota (Queen Anne’s lace.) Other “innocents” are Apium (celery), Coriandrum (coriander), Foeniculum (fennel), Osmorhiza (aniseroot), Pastinaca (parsnip), and Petroselinum (parsley).

Osmorhiza (aniseroot)