Field Parsnip.Pastinaca sativa.
Found in roadside thickets, along meadow walls and fences, during July and August.
The large, widely branching stalk reaches the height of 4 or 5 feet; it is 4-, or occasionally 5-angled, very tough and woody-fibred, noticeably grooved, and its surface is coarse; dull green.
The compound irregular leaf is large: the root-leaves are cut into 7 to 11 divisions, each part again cleft into 3 or 5 parts,—the upper leaves are less compound; the leaflets are long oval, broadest at the base, the margins closely notched, the texture thin, but coarse, the surface smooth, the underside of the upper leaves shining. The color is a dull dark green. The root-leaves are on long stems, while the upper leaves are on shorter stems which clasp the stalk with wing-like membranes; these are grooved, and large, their edges roll together, and meet and lap about the stalk. The leaves are placed alternately, at considerable intervals apart.
The tiny flowers are yellow, they spread flat, to show the undeveloped seed-boxes, and are set on thread foot-stems in small, flat-topped, round clusters; these, on long, up-curving stems, form a large spreading cluster, upon a stout stem; they are terminal and from the angles of the leaves; several of these large clusters occur on a plant.
“’Twill raise a blister, if you touch it when the dew’s on’t!” says the farmer’s son. It has a strongly acrid odor when broken, a thing which is well-nigh impossible to accomplish. The seeds, shining and very flat discs, add to the decorative qualities of this conspicuous plant.