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Oenanthe aquatica
Also called Fine leafed water dropwort, Fine-leaved Water-dropwort, Horsebane
Oenanthe aquatica, fine-leaved water-dropwort, is an aquatic flowering plant in the carrot family. It is widely distributed from the Atlantic coast of Europe to central Asia, and grows in reedbeds or pools with a fluctuating water level, sometimes becoming abundant on drying mud.
The native range is from Ireland in the west, eastwards to central Siberia and from the more southerly parts of Scandinavia southwards to the Mediterranean basin. It is rarely found as an introduction outside this area, but there are records of it in Washington, D.C., and New Zealand, where it is not considered to be invasive. Although it was present in a few places in Spain, it is thought to be extinct there now.
Because of the danger of poisoning, fine-leaved water-dropwort is not widely used. The fruits are reputed to cause vertigo, drunkenness and narcotic symptoms, and it can easily be confused with other, more deadly species such as hemlock water-dropwort. Nevertheless, it is reported by ethnobotanists as being used to treat various medical conditions, such as chronic pectoral diseases, dyspepsia, fevers and ulcers.
Hemlock Water-dropwort · Tubular Water-dropwort · River Water-dropwort · Oenanthe globulosa · Java waterdropwort · Parsley water-dropwort · Corkyfruit waterdropwort · Water parsely · Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort · Waterdropwort
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Oenanthe aquatica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
