Greater Burnet-saxifrage

Greater Burnet-saxifrage - Pimpinella major

Description

Medium to tall plant, stem hollow, deeply ridged. Lower leaves pinnate with 3 to 9 toothed leaflets with the end leaflet being three-lobed (usually). Stem leaves smaller and with prominent inflated bases. Flowers white, sometimes pinkish 3mm in flat topped umbels 3 to 6 cm across with 10 to 15 rays.

Similar Species

Similar to several other medium-sized white flowered umbellifers

Identification difficulty
ID checklist (your specimen should have all of these features)

Usually flowers later than Cow Parsley.  Stem ridges and hollow.  Basal leaves simply pinnate, with ovate, toothed leaflets (not ferny).  Fruits oval and ridged, less than 2 times as long as wide

Recording advice

A photo of the plant in habitat, showing its basal leaves and a side-on view of the umbel, with fruits. 

Habitat

Roadside verges, rough grassland, hedgebanks and woodland margins.

When to see it

June to August.

Life History

Perennial.

UK Status

In Britain it is only frequent in south-eastern, central and northern England and in the South-west of Ireland.

VC55 Status

It is quite frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 241 of the 617 tetrads.

In the current Checklist (Jeeves, 2011) it is listed as native, occasional

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Additional images

All NatureSpot records

Photo of the association

Phytomyza pimpinellae

The larva of the Agromyzid fly Phytomyza pimpinellae mines the leaves of Greater Burnet-saxifrage and Burnet-saxifrage producing a broad, relatively short, upper surface mine with conspicuous feeding lines of frass.