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Conium maculatum

(Fool´s-Parsley)

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Carrot-Fern, Cigue Maculee, Cigue Tachetee, Deadly Hemlock, Fool´s-Parsley, Hemlock, Poison Parsley, Poison Hemlock, Poison Parsley, Poison-Hemlock, Spotted-Hemlock, Spotted-Parsley

Common Names in Portuguese:

Cicuta, Funcho-Selvagem

Common Names in Romanian:

Cucută

Common Names in Russian:

Boligolov Pjatnistyj, болиголов пятнистый, омег, Omeg

Common Names in Spanish:

Cicuta

Common Names in Swedish:

Odört

Description

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Genus Conium

Herbs, biennial or shortly perennial , slender. Root stout, long-conic. Stem hollow, erect , much-branched above, conspicuously purple-spotted. Leaves petiolate , narrowly sheathing at base ; blade 2-3-pinnate, finely dissected . Umbels numerous , terminal and lateral on dichotomous branches; bracts and bracteoles several, often reflexed ; rays numerous, ascending ; rays numerous, spreading widely. Calyx teeth obsolete . Petals white or yellowish white, obovate or obcordate , apex incurved . Stylopodium low-conic, styles short, reflexed. Fruit ovoid or broad-ovoid, slightly flattened laterally; ribs 5, prominent , all ridged to very narrowly sinuate-winged; vittae small, numerous, completely encircling the seed, usually broken down in mature fruit. Seed face deeply concave or sulcate . Carpophore 2-cleft, at least to middle .

About six species: native to the Mediterranean region, widely naturalized in the N temperate zone; one species (introduced ) in China.[1]

Physical Description

Species Conium maculatum

Plants 80-200(-300) cm, essentially glabrous . Basal leaves on long-petioles, petioles 7-25 cm, sheaths small, narrow; blades 2-3-pinnate, 10-30 × 6-28 cm, finely divided ; pinnae petiolulate ; ultimate segments oblong or ovate-lanceolate, 1-3 × 0.5-1 cm, short-petiolulate, incised or pinnatifid . Leaves gradually reduced upwards. Umbels 4-7 cm across, lateral umbels overtopping the terminal ; peduncles 2-7 cm; bracts 4-6, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, 2-5 mm, reflexed ; rays 10-20, 1.5-4 cm, unequal; bracteoles 5-6, ovate , 1.5-3 mm, fused at base ; pedicels 10-20, 1-5 mm, unequal. Petals ca. 1.5 × 1 mm. Fruit 2-4 × 1.5-2.5 mm. Fl. and fr. May-Aug. n = 11. [source]

Habit: Forb/herb

Flowers: Bloom Period: June. • Flower Color: near white, white

Size/Age/Growth

Size: 18-24" tall.

Habitat

Forest margins , cultivated field margins[2].

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 4,653 meters (0 to 15,266 feet).[3]

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Biennial

Growth

Culture: Space 36-48" apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 5.6 • Maximum pH: 7.5

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b. (map)

Taxonomy

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Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Place of publication : Sp. pl. 1:243. 1753

Name verified on 20-May-1992 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 23-Aug-1994

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Conium

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 26 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

C. africanum · C. arracacha · C. arracacia · C. carota · C. ceretanum · C. chaerophylloides · C. cicuta · C. croaticum · C. dichotomum · C. divaricatum · C. divaricum · C. durieua · C. fontanum · C. maculatum (Fool´s-Parsley) · C. maculatum 'Golden Nemesis' · C. maculatum subsp. viride · C. maculatum viride (Fool´s-Parsley) · C. maculosum · C. monieri · C. moschatum · C. nodosum · C. rigens · C. royenii · C. sphaerocarpum · C. suffruticosum · C. tenuifolium

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 12, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Pan Zehui, Mark F. Watson "Conium". in Flora of China Vol. 14 Page 58. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. "Conium maculatum". in Flora of China Vol. 14 Page 58. Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. Mean = 128.750 meters (422.408 feet), Standard Deviation = 289.680 based on 8,144 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/1/2009