UMBELLIFERAE PARSLEY FAMILY 
MUSQUASH ROOT. WATER HEMLOCK 
Cicuta maculata L. 
The fame of this plant rests on its poisonous nature. 
Its toxic principle is the most viclent to livestock of that 
fromgany Illinois plant, and is found in all its parts. An 
unpleasantly strong narcotic 
odor is characteristic. 
From the large, fleshy and 
tuber-bearing roots of the 
Water Hemlock rises a slender 
stem 3-6 feet high and marked 
lengthwise with purple lines. 
It is found mostly on marshy 
ground from New Brunswick 
to Florida and is common 
westward to Manitoba and 
New Mexico, but will endure 
moderately dry soil. The 
leaves are sometimes 1 foot 
long, are 2 or 3 times pinnately 
divided, and the oblong-lanceo- 
late segments are coarsely 
toothed. 
The many-flowered com- 
pound umbels are 2-4 inches 
broad. The umbellets are one- 
half inch across or more, and the small flowers are white. Usually 
there is no involucre, but there are involucels of several slender 
bractlets. The small fruits are oval or broadly ovate. 
The Harbinger of Spring, Erigenia bulbosa (Michx.) Nutt., is a 
low perennial herb which gets its name from the fact that it blooms 
very early, often in March, or even February in the southern part 
of the state, continuing through April. It is the only species of 
Erigenia in the world and is found only in the central part of the 
continent. There are usually 2-4 basal leaves, and the flowering 
stem, 3-9 inches high, bears no leaves except the 1 or 2 that serve 
as an involucre below the compound umbel. The flower has no calyx 
teeth and its white petals are flat, not turned in at the tip. The 
5 stamens are attached with the petals to the disk that surrounds 
the 2 styles above the ovary. The fruit contains 2 seeds. 
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