Biology
provided by Arkive
This plant is a perennial, and the flowers appear in July and August. It does not like disturbance, and cannot survive regular cutting or ditch clearance, but can tolerate the occasional slubbing of its ditches and moderate grazing. However, whilst cattle and other stock seem to be immune from the effects of the plant's poison, dairy cows are discouraged from browsing it as it imparts an unpleasant taste to their milk.
Conservation
provided by Arkive
The greater water-parsnip is listed in the UK Biodiversity Action Plans (UK BAP) and is included in English Nature's Species Recovery Programme. The Environment Agency, who are the lead partners in work to recover this species, have produced plans to improve river and floodplain management that will benefit other plants and animals that are features of these important habitats. If possible, seed from the Millennium Seed Bank, managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, at Wakehurst Place, may be used to restore populations of the greater water-parsnip at suitable sites within its former range.
Description
provided by Arkive
Greater water-parsnip is an upright plant, with a very robust appearance. The stem is hollow and grooved; the leaves, which can grow to 30cm, have stalks, which are also hollow and clasp the main stem. The plant is bright green and hairless. The flowers are white, measure about four millimetres across, and are carried on an umbel, characteristic of this family of plants. One of the alternative English names for this plant is water hemlock, as it bears a close resemblance to hemlock Conium maculatum often found growing on wet meadows and banksides.
WARNING: this plant is also deadly poisonous and contact with it should be avoided at all times.
Habitat
provided by Arkive
Greater water-parsnip is found in wet ditches on fens and swamps. It prefers still or slow moving shallow water that is not acid and where the soil is peaty or has been deposited by rivers. While it seems able to cope with tall vegetation such as reeds competing with it, it does not like being overshadowed by trees and is not found in wet woodland.
Range
provided by Arkive
This species is found across most of Europe although it is rare near the Mediterranean region. In the UK, it is found south and east of a line drawn between the River Humber and the Bristol Channel, although it also occurs in good numbers in the Lough Erne system of Northern Ireland.
Status
provided by Arkive
Classified as Nationally scarce in the UK, and protected under Schedule 8 Wildlife and Countryside Act, as amended.
Threats
provided by Arkive
As well as being intolerant of disturbance, greater water-parsnip is also threatened by drainage of its sites, and the neglect of ditches, allowing scrub and young woodland to become established.
Associations
provided by BioImages, the virtual fieldguide, UK
Foodplant / miner
larva of Euleia heraclei mines live leaf of Sium latifolium
Remarks: Other: uncertain
In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / open feeder
larva of Hypera arundinis grazes on leaf of Sium latifolium
Foodplant / internal feeder
larva of Lixus paraplecticus feeds within stem of Sium latifolium
Foodplant / gall
Physoderma vagans causes gall of live leaf (petiole) of Sium latifolium
Foodplant / parasite
hypophyllous colony of sporangium of Plasmopara crustosa parasitises live leaf of Sium latifolium
Foodplant / gall
embedded chlamydospore of Protomyces macrosporus causes gall of Sium latifolium
Remarks: season: 3-10
Foodplant / parasite
pycnium of Uromyces lineolatus parasitises live Sium latifolium
Description
provided by eFloras
Plants 70–150 cm. Roots fibrous. Submerged leaves 2–3-pinnate; ultimate segments linear. Aerial leaves 1-pinnate; pinnae 2–6 pairs, leaflets lanceolate or oblong, 4–7(–16) × 0.8–2 cm, margins serrate. Upper leaves reduced, smaller; leaflets linear-lanceolate or linear. Umbels 6–12 cm across; peduncles elongate; bracts 2–6, linear-lanceolate, 3–5 mm, entire; rays 8–10(–30), 1.5–2.5 cm, unequal; bracteoles several, similar to bracts, 5–6 mm; umbellules 15–25-flowered; pedicels 2–3 mm. Calyx teeth minute, ca. 2 mm. Styles ca. equal to stylopodium, reflexed. Fruit ellipsoid, ca. 3 × 2 mm; ribs filiform, thin-corky; vittae 3 in each furrow, 2–5 on commissure. Fl. Jul–Aug, fr. Sep–Oct. 2n = 20.
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- Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
Distribution
provided by eFloras
Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Russia; C Asia, Europe; introduced in Australia].
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- Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
Habitat
provided by eFloras
Marshlands, stream banks; 400–500 m.
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- Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
Sium latifolium
provided by wikipedia EN
Sium latifolium is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae known by the common names great water-parsnip, greater water-parsnip,[1] and wideleaf waterparsnip.[2] It is native to much of Europe, Kazakhstan, and Siberia.[1]
This plant grows in wet habitat such as swamps and lakeshores, sometimes in the water. It is a perennial herb with a hollow, grooved stem up to 2 meters tall. The herbage is green and hairless. The leaves are up to 30 centimeters long with blades borne on hollow petioles that clasp the stem at their bases. The inflorescence is an umbel of white flowers.[3]
When eaten by dairy cows, the plant tends to imbue their milk with an unpleasant taste.[3]
Toxicity/edibility
The rootstock is acrid and poisonous, but the leaves have been cooked and eaten as a vegetable in Italy and the ripe seeds - which are aromatic due to their limonene content - have been used (in small quantities) as a spice or seasoning in Scandinavian cuisine.[4]
References
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Sium latifolium: Brief Summary
provided by wikipedia EN
Sium latifolium is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae known by the common names great water-parsnip, greater water-parsnip, and wideleaf waterparsnip. It is native to much of Europe, Kazakhstan, and Siberia.
This plant grows in wet habitat such as swamps and lakeshores, sometimes in the water. It is a perennial herb with a hollow, grooved stem up to 2 meters tall. The herbage is green and hairless. The leaves are up to 30 centimeters long with blades borne on hollow petioles that clasp the stem at their bases. The inflorescence is an umbel of white flowers.
When eaten by dairy cows, the plant tends to imbue their milk with an unpleasant taste.
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- copyright
- Wikipedia authors and editors
