Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Large
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: North America
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

Cow Parsnip is one of North America's largest native wildflowers, towering up to 2.5 metres tall with broad, maple-like leaves and spectacular flat-topped white umbels. Its hollow stems contain a phototoxic sap that causes severe blistering when skin is exposed to sunlight after contact.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Apiales
Family: Apiaceae
Genus: Heracleum
Species: Heracleum maximum