YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK 



(white) (white) 



47 



queen's lace 



COW PARSNIP 



Queen's Lace {Pseudocymopterus) . This plant 

 belongs to the umbellifer or carrot family, and is found 

 in moist places throughout the Park, especially where 

 there is some shade. Its slender, smooth, branching 

 stems reach a height of two or three feet (in the open 

 somewhat less), ending in an umbrella-shaped head 

 of lacy white flowers from two to four inches in diame- 

 ter. The leaves are very finely dissected, like those of 

 the carrot. The blossoming season lasts from early 

 July into early August. A somewhat larger plant with 

 similar flowers but with large compound leaves having 

 lance-shaped leaflets, is known as Angelica. 



Cow Parsnip {Heracleum). The cow parsnip al- 

 so belongs to the carrot family. It occurs in moist 

 places, but is much more abundant in open meadows 

 than is queen's lace, though it thrives in partly shad- 

 ed habitats as well. It is one of the largest of the 

 herbs, with great, coarse, ribbed, hollow stems fre- 

 quently four or five feet high. The leaves are huge, 

 broad, hairy affairs, as much as a foot wide; they are 

 compound with usually three divisions, and these are 

 further cleft or divided. The flower-cluster is umbrel- 

 la-shaped, from four to six inches across, yellowish 

 white in color. 



