WILD PARSNIP 



Pastinaca sativa L. 



June - August A vcrv l()ii<r time ago in the jM'riod wlicn ]?()inaii ciil- 



Roadsidcs. fields tuic was the most imiioitaut way of lii'o in the limited 



scope of the woild of that time, there grew a bii-iniial 

 herb in the Italian fields and roadsides, 'llic IJomaii- knrw it as Pastinaca. 

 from pasfiis. whicli means food. And their name many eenturies later 

 inllueiieed formation of the word which we know as j)arsnip. The Latin 

 rastimim still is accepted in modcMMi hotany as the seientilic name for 

 our wild paiv-nip. .Vlthdiigh in the wild state the wild jjarsnip's thick tap 

 root was considered slightly poisonous, in cultivation it apparently lost 

 that attribute and became a prominent food in Kuropean countries. 

 I'ai'snips then, as they are now. were a winter vegetable which was not 

 considered really edible until altei- it had been frozen in the ground. The 

 usual way was to dig parsnijjs after frost, bury them in a heap of loose 

 leaves and earth, and dig in after them wh(Mi a dinner of ])arsni]is was 

 desired. They were one of the very few winter vegetables available to 

 people \(n\^ ago before jji'esen'ation of fresh smmner veget^ibles was 

 possible. 



Somehow, as so many oth(>r luiroj)ean plants did. the wild parsnip 

 came to America. It <^:v\\ readily in S'cnv Wmid soil and by means of 

 its abundant seed production, it spread rapidly. 



Today in mid-sununer the stately, aromatic, channeled, columnar 

 stem of the wild ])arsnip grows taller and taller into the sunnner sunshine. 

 The leaf-stems clasp the stalk; the stalk itself branches many times, and 

 the leaves are long, compound, bright green. At the tips of the stalks 

 are broad, flat uml)els of brassy-yellow flowers arranged rather beautifully 

 so that all the ilowers nrt^ sjiread to the sun. 



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