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Cicuta virosa

Flowering Plants

Cicuta virosa, commonly called cowbane or northern water hemlock, is a poisonous perennial herbaceous plant in the genus Cicuta, in the family Apiaceae, native to northern and central Europe, northern Asia and northwestern North America. It grows 1 to 2 meters tall, with smooth, branching stems that are swollen at the base, purple striped and hollow except at the partitions where leaves attach, and alternate, tripinnate leaves with coarse teeth, coarser than the delicate, ferny foliage typical of related plants in the carrot family. Its flowers are small and white, arranged in umbrella shaped clusters, and an oily yellow liquid with a rank smell resembling parsnips or carrots oozes from cuts to the stems and roots; the tuberous, clustered roots can be mistaken for parsnips. The plant inhabits wet meadows, streambanks and marshy areas, and contains cicutoxin, which disrupts the central nervous system; a single bite of the root, which carries the highest concentration of the toxin, can be enough to cause death. The IUCN lists the species as Least Concern. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Classification
Diet
Photosynthetic Autotroph 1
System (Realm)
Terrestrial and Freshwater 2
Living or Extinct
Yes 3
Comparison
NatureServe Rank
G5 Secure 4
CITES Appendix
Not Listed 5
Scientific Name
Cicuta virosa 6
Conservation Status
Least Concern 7
Connections

Child Taxon Of

Apiaceae, Taxa
Source Cicuta virosa (Wikipedia)

In Biome

Freshwater Marsh, Biomes
Source Plants For A Future: Cicuta virosa
In the Other Atlases

Found In

Austria

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Belarus

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Belgium

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Bulgaria

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Canada

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Denmark

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Finland

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France

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Germany

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Greece

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Hungary

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Ireland

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Italy

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Japan

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Kazakhstan

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Manchuria

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Mongolia

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Netherlands

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North America

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Norway

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Palestine

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Poland

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Romania

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Siberia

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Spain

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Sweden

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Switzerland

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Ukraine

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Sources
1. Plant (Wikipedia)
Lead, whole group is photosynthetic
Quote, Lead, whole group is photosynthetic
They are predominantly photosynthetic or came from photosynthetic ancestors, meaning that they obtain their energy from sunlight by using the green pigment chlorophyll in their chloroplasts to produce sugars from carbon dioxide and water.
View the Source
2. Plants For A Future: Cicuta virosa
Plants For A Future
  • Habitats
    Ditches, shallow muddy waters and marshes
  • Medicinal Uses
    The whole plant is highly toxic and is not used in herbal medicine[9].
View the Source
3. Cicuta virosa (Wikidata)
WikidataStatements section, conservation status (P141)
Quote, Statements section, conservation status (P141)
Wikidata Q27609: least concern (P141).
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4. NatureServe Explorer: Cicuta virosa
NatureServe ExplorerGlobal rank (roundedGRank)
Quote, Global rank (roundedGRank)
"roundedGRank": "G5"
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5. UNEP-WCMC Species+ database (CITES Secretariat): Species+: Apiales
UNEP-WCMC Species+ database (CITES Secretariat)Species+ taxon_concepts, id 12433
Quote, Species+ taxon_concepts, id 12433
"cites_listing":"II/NC","eu_listing":"B/NC","higher_taxa":{"kingdom":"Plantae","phylum":null,"class":null,"order":"Apiales","family":null},"synonyms":[],"common_names":[],"cites_listings":[]
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6. Wikipedia: Cicuta virosa
Wikipedia
7. Cicuta virosa (Wikipedia)
  • Infobox: status
    LC
  • Child Taxon Of: Apiaceae, Lead
    The leaves are alternate, tripinnate, only coarsely toothed, unlike the ferny, lacy leaves found in many other members of the family Apiaceae.
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