FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Leaves are distinctive in this herb, being pinnately compound with narrow leaflets and sharp tips.
Description: Robust herb with few pinnately compound leaves, growing to about 1 m.
Leaves: Pinnately compound leaves with about 5 to 9 pointed-tipped leaflets, about 10 cm long and 2.5 cm wide. Margins can range from entire to having a few teeth.
Flowers/Fruit: Flower is a wide umbel, with small white flower clusters on long curved stalks. Fruits are green maturing to pinkish-brown, small and with conspicuous wings. Flowers August to October; fruits October and November.
Habit and Range: Found in bogs, openings in swamps, along streams, and other damp, partially shaded areas. Common in the Mountains but uncommon to rare in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain.
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
Oxypolis rigidior (stiff cowbane) is similar to Cicuta maculata (spotted water hemlock), which reaches greater heights and has twice divided leaves, with leaflets that are more strongly serrated.
Click here to view Cicuta maculata.
Link to side-by-side comparisons page
