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Heracleum sphondylium

Common name:	Cow Parsnip	Family:	Umbelliferae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	17, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	Many members of this genus, including many of the sub-species in this species[65], contain furanocoumarins. These have carcinogenic, mutagenic and phototoxic properties. See below for more details.
Range:	Europe, including Britain, south of latitude 61° to western N. Africa, west and northern Asia.
Habitat:	Moist grassland and ditches, by hedges and in woods[7, 17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Cow Parsnip [L,H], Eltrot [P,B], Gewone Berenklauw [D], Grande Berce [E], Hogweed [H,L], Parsnip,Cow [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	sphondylium =
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Apiales. Renamed to Apiaceae -- Carrot family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Britain(Wales) France

Physical Characteristics

Biennial/Perennial growing to 1.8m. It is hardy to zone 5 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from June to September, and the seeds ripen from July to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees and flies. The plant is self-fertile. It is noted for attracting wildlife. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in full shade (deep woodland) semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Meadow, Hedgerow, Woodland, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge, Deep Shade.

Edible Uses

Leaves Root Stem Sweetener.

Stem and young shoots - raw or cooked[5, 7, 9, 17]. Used as a green vegetable, when harvested just as they are sprouting from the ground they are somewhat like asparagus in flavour[183]. The rind is somewhat acrid[115].
The leaf stems are tied in bundles and dried in the sun until they turn yellow[238]. A sweet substance resembling sugar forms on the dried stems and is considered to be a great delicacy[2, 115, 183, 238].
The peduncles, before flowering, can be eaten as a vegetable or added to soups[183].
Root - cooked. It is usually boiled[7].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Aphrodisiac Digestive Expectorant Sedative.

The roots and the leaves are aphrodisiac, digestive, mildly expectorant and sedative[7, 9, 238]. The plant is little used in modern herbalism but has been employed in the treatment of laryngitis and bronchitis[9, 238]. A tincture made from the aerial parts of the plant has also been used to relieve general debility, though it is uncertain how it works[7, 238]. The plant is harvested as it comes into flower and can be dried for later use[9].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

A very easily grown plant, succeeding in any ordinary garden soil[1, 238], doing best in moist soils or deep woodland[1]. Grows well in full sun or partial shade[238].
This species contains a large number of sub-species. Some, but by no means all of them, can cause various problems as detailed at the top of this record. Subspecies transylvanicum, pyrenaicum, montanum, orsinii and alpinum are distinctly phototoxic, subspecies sphondylium and sibiricum are not phototoxic whilst subspecies granatense and ternatum vary in their toxicity[65].
A good bee plant[108].

Propagation

Seed - sow mid to late spring or early autumn in situ.
Division in autumn.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[5] Mabey. R. Food for Free. Collins 1974 ISBN 0-00-219060-5
Edible wild plants found in Britain. Fairly comprehensive, very few pictures and rather optimistic on the desirability of some of the plants.

[7] Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald 1984 ISBN 0-356-10541-5
Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.

[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[65] Frohne. D. and Pfänder. J. A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. Wolfe 1984 ISBN 0723408394
Brilliant. Goes into technical details but in a very readable way. The best work on the subject that I've come across so far.

[108] International Bee Research Association. Garden Plants Valuable to Bees. International Bee Research Association. 1981
The title says it all.

[115] Johnson. C. P. The Useful Plants of Great Britain.
Written about a hundred years ago, but still a very good guide to the useful plants of Britain.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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