UMBELLIFERAE WILD PARSNIP 661 



leaves, pinnate segments, ovate-lanceolate and broad dilated petioles; flowers in 

 large umbels 9-25 rayed ; fruit broadly oval, oil tubes 25-30. 



Distribution. Common in swamps from Labrador, Wisconsin, Minnesota, 

 Illinois to Delaware. 



Poisonous principles. Supposed to be poisonous. Although no cases have 

 been reported to the writer, it is known that the Indians of Canada used the 

 fresh roots for suicidal purposes. On drying, however, the roots lose their 

 poisonous properties. Dr. Millspaugh says that they are considered carminative, 

 diuretic, emmenagogue and stimulant. The dried root was often used, especially 

 in combination with other and better known diuretics, in anasarca and various 

 diseases of the urinary organs ; and alone in flatulent colic and suppressed men- 

 struation. Dr. Schell claims that doses of 15 to 20 grains of the dried root will 

 cause a disgust for all spirituous liquors. The stems were often made into a 

 candied preserve in some sections of the country a practice now nearly extinct. 



6. Oxy polls Raf. Cobwane 



Perennial, glabrous marsh herbs, with clustered tuberous roots; leaves re- 

 duced, pinnate or ternate ; flowers white, in compound umbels ; calyx teeth acute ; 

 fruit ovate, dorsally flattened, compressed ; dorsal ribs slender, the lateral broad- 

 ly winged: oil tubes solitary in the intervals, 2-6 on the commissure. Species 

 4, native to North America. Poisonous. 



Oxypolis rigidior (L) Coult and Rose. Cowbane. 



A slender marsh perennial from 2-5 feet high. Roots tuberous, clustered; 

 leaves simply pinnate, petioled; leaflets thick, ovate-lanceolate or oblong-entire 

 or denticulate; involucre of 1-4 bracts or none; flowers white; oil tubes small. 



Distribution. In swamps from New York to Florida, to Missouri and 

 Minnesota. 



Poisonous property. The roots and leaves are known to be poisonous. Said 

 to poison cattle. 



7. Pastinaca L. Parsnip 



Tall, branching biennial herbs, pinnate leaves, thick conical roots, compound 

 umbels with yellow flowers; involucres and involucels commonly absent; obso- 

 lete calyx teeth; fruit smooth, oval, flattened, the lateral ribs extending into 

 broad wings ; oil tubes solitary, 2-4 on the commissure. Six or seven species 

 native to Asia and Europe. 



Pastinaca sativa L. Wild Parsnip 



Tall branched biennial or annual herb with thick conical roots, pinnately 

 compound leaves smooth or somewhat pubescent ; calyx teeth obsolete ; petals 

 yellow, fruit oval, glabrous, flattened dorsally, seeds flat. 



Distribution. Common in the northern states and on the Pacific coast, 

 where it has escaped from cultivation. 



Poisonous properties. Frequently confused with cowbane and said to pro- 

 duce poisoning. The writer has not received a single specimen where Wild 

 Parsnip was said to have produced the poisoning, that the plant did not prove 

 to be cowbane. The wide spread belief of the poisonous nature of the cul- 

 tivated parsnip running wild is entertained by a large number of people and also 

 to some extent by the medical fraternity. A few years ago Professor Fred- 



