WILD PARSNIP

WILD PARSNIP PLANT...

...DOUBLE-COMPOUND FLOWERS OF THE PARSLEY FAMILY...

...LEAF (GOOGLE PHOTO) 

Tuesday,  8:00 AM.  62 degrees F at the ferry dock, 57 on the back porch.  Wind North, calm with light gusts.  The sky is clear, the humidity 78%, and the barometer is rising sharply, now at 29.91".  We will have several very beautiful days ahead of us.
   The hummingbird air force is again performing its arial stunts and mock battles.  I don't know where they were, but they are back, and providing almost constant amusement.
    Wild parsnip, Pastinaca sativa, in the Parsley Pamily (Umbelliferae) is very similar to the cultivated parsnip in appearance and taxonomy, and it may not be possible to tell them apart in the field.  Parsnips are biennial, but the edible root is harvested as an annual.  It has been grown for food since ancient times, and the root being sweet, it  was once used instead of sugar. I love the flavor, but Joan says she can't taste them at all, and that being able to taste parsnips is an inherited characteristic. We should ask our children whether they can taste them or not.
   The above ground parts of the parsnip plant, both cultivated and wild, can be highly toxic. A photo-chemical reaction occurs when skin that comes in contact with the leaves, stems or flowers is then exposed to bright sunlight. Severe burns may occur, the blisters looking like poison ivy.  If parsnip leaves, stems or flowers must be handled, do so with gloves and out of the sun.
    The flower heads of the parsnip in its second year of growth are a distinguishing characteristic, as there are only a few other, rather obscure,  members of the parsley family that have yellow flowers (I suppose it could perhaps be confused with Tansy, which also has yellow flower heads, but that plant is in the sunflower family).
   There are a number of edible plants in the parsley family, as well as many which are very poisonous.  It is best to leave plants in this family, which is pretty easily recognized by their doubly compound flower heads, alone.