58 



WILD FLOWERS OF CALIFORNIA 



637. 



638. Pimpinel 



Carum Kelloggii 



Pimpinella apiodora 



639. Water Parsnip 



636. Indian Potato Carum Gairdneri A conspicuous foothill spe- 



cies in open places among 

 sagebrush, eastern Sier- 

 ras and elsewhere. Tu- 

 berous roots one or two 

 inches long and slender. 

 Formerly used extensive- 

 ly by Indians for food. 

 Leaves and flowers a fa- 

 vorite sheep feed. Erect 

 stems with scanty leafage. 

 Umbels of white flowers 

 forming clusters 1 to 2 

 inches across. Fruit ov- 

 ate, compressed, ribs 

 somewhat obscure, oil- 

 tubes solitary in the in- 

 tervals. 



A stouter plant with larger 

 flowers and fruit. Very 

 common, open hills, Bay 

 region. 



Smooth perennials, with 

 pinkish flowers. Fruit 

 broadly ovate, small, 

 somewhat prominent ribs, 

 oil-tubes numerous. Rocky 

 places about San Fran- 

 cisco and northward. 



Berula erecta Tall perennial marsh plant 



with pinnate leaves, leaf- 

 lets 9 to 19 and 1 to 2 

 inches long. White flow- 

 ers ; fruit round, very 

 small, ribs nerve-like, oil- 

 tubes numerous. Spar- 

 ingly from San Francisco 

 to Los Angeles. 



POISON PARSNIPS OR WATER HEMLOCKS CICUTA 



Smooth, tall branching perennials found in marshes, along creeks and banks of 

 irrigation ditches and never away from water, at least during some period of the 

 year. Some of the species occur in Europe where they have long been recognized 

 as poisonous. The roots contain a virulent poison, especially in winter and early 

 spring. During the summer the food material in the root is used up in the growth 

 of the plant above ground, disseminating the poison over a large leaf surface and 

 in this way diluting it. In any event stock can eat the fairly mature plants with- 

 out any ill effects in late summer. 



The plants look so very much like many other plants in the family that are 

 harmless, that considerable difficulty is experienced in identification unless fruits 

 are accessible. Stout hollow stems. 



Large umbels of white flowers. Fruit small and nearly round, ribs broad, 

 obtuse and corky. 



When fruits are not available, by digging up the plants and cutting up the 

 root, a series of partitioned hollow chambers will be found. This character 

 identifies the genus Cicuta with a reasonable degree of certainty, but not abso- 

 lutely. 



640. California Poison Cicuta virosa, var. Cali- Bay region. 



Parsnip fornica 



641. Bolander's Poison Cicuta Bolanderi Suisun and other marshes. 



Parsnip 



