Water Hemlock
Cicuta maculata |
Other common names:
Spotted Cowbane, Spotted Water Hemlock
Other scientific names:
Cicuta occidentalis
French names:
Cicutaire maculée
Family:
Parsley Family (Apiaceae)
Group:
Water Hemlocks
Distinctive features:
Wet areas. Alternate twice-compound leaves; leaflets sometimes haphazard in arrangement.
Similar species:
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Water Parsnip (Sium suave) - very similar, except the leaflets are not so haphazard.
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Cowbane (Oxypolis rigidior) - also poisonous, and closely resembles Water Parsnip.
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Bulb-bearing Water Hemlock (Cicuta bulbifera) - leaves are very fine.
•
Wild Carrot (Daucus carota) - grows in dry areas and smells like carrots.
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Aniseroot (Osmorhiza longistylis) - Grows in woods, not in wet areas.
•
Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum) - leaves are finely divided.
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Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) - A tree; similar in name only; no relation; not poisonous. See the Ontario Trees & Shrubs website.
Flowers:
Summer; White; 5 parts (petals); Small white flowers in a flat or rounded umbel (an umbrella-shaped cluster) 2-5" wide. Individual flowers about 1/8" wide, have 5 petals and 5 stamens.
Leaves:
Alternate, Compound, Toothed; Alternate compound leaves with lance-shaped leaflets, pointed, with numerous teeth. Note the sometimes multiples of leaves giving rise to a somewhat haphazard arrangement of leaves along the leaf stem. Sometimes tinged with red. Up to about 4" long, 1.5" wide. The veins on the leaflets end at the notches between the teeth (this is unusual in plants).
Height:
1-2 m (3-6 ft)
Stem:
Branching, smooth & stout, often mottled or solid purple. Hollow. Lower part of stem chambered. Roots have fat tuberlike branches.
Habitat:
Wet Areas; Wet open areas such as marshes, along shores, and sometimes open swamps.
Lifespan:
Perennial.
Poisonous:
***DEADLY POISONOUS***.
Books:
Newcomb's Wildflower Guide: 222
Peterson's Field Guide to Wildflowers: 52
ROM Field Guide to Wildflowers of Ontario: 125
Native/Non-native:
Native
Notes:
Read about Water Hemlocks.
Origin and Meaning of Names:
Scientific Name: maculata: spotted
Photographs:
272 photographs available, of which 15 are featured on this page. SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTOGRAPHS.
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