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Wideleaf waterparsnip

Sium latifolium

Also called Greater water-parsnip, Great Water Parsnip

Wideleaf waterparsnip
Photo: Jeremy Halls, CC BY-SA 2.0

Sium latifolium is a hardy perennial water plant of the carrot family, native to much of Europe and Siberia, that grows in swamps, lakeshores and shallow water. Keep its roots consistently wet and give it full sun to part shade.

Family
Apiaceae (Carrot family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Keep roots constantly wet or submerged in shallow water.
Soil
Wet, fertile mud or heavy loam at the edge of a pond or bog garden.
Temperature
Hardy to around -30 °C; suits temperate climates.
How easy
Moderate
Safety
Toxic: The rootstock is acrid and poisonous; avoid eating it.
Native range
Europe to Siberia and Xinjiang
Climate
temperate

About

Sium latifolium is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae known by the common names great water-parsnip, greater water-parsnip, and wideleaf waterparsnip. It is native to much of Europe, Kazakhstan, and Siberia.

This plant grows in wet habitat such as swamps and lakeshores, sometimes in the water. It is a perennial herb with a hollow, grooved stem up to 2 meters tall. The herbage is green and hairless. The leaves are up to 30 centimeters long with blades borne on hollow petioles that clasp the stem at their bases. The inflorescence is an umbel of white flowers.

Safety

The rootstock is acrid and poisonous, but the leaves have been cooked and eaten as a vegetable in Italy and the ripe seeds - which are aromatic due to their limonene content - have been used (in small quantities) as a spice or seasoning in Scandinavian cuisine.

Other Sium plants

Skirret · Hemlock waterparsnip · Waterparsnip

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Sium latifolium by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

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.

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