Wild Parsnip

Wild Parsnip - Pastinaca sativa

Description

An erect, medium to tall, strong smelling, hairy plant. Stem angled or ridged. Leaves pinnate, with 5 to 11 oval, lobed and toothed segments. Flowers yellow 1.5 mm in umbels with 9 to 20 unequal rays.

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

Yellow flowers; hairy; leaves 1-pinnate; fruits flattened, rounded, with low ridges

Recording advice

Photo of the plant in its habitat

Habitat

Rough grassy places, usually on dry calcareous soils.

When to see it

Late June to August.

Life History

Biennial.

UK Status

Occasional but widespread in central and southern England, local and often coastal elsewhere.

VC55 Status

Mainly found in the north east of Leicestershire and parts of Rutland, just a few records from railway verges elsewhere in VC55. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 61 of the 617 tetrads.

In the current Checklist (Jeeves, 2011) it is listed as Native, calcareous soils, locally frequent

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

Epermenia chaerophyllella

The larvae of the moth Epermenia chaerophyllella feed on umbelliferous plants, perhaps most often Hogweed but also Wild Parsnip and Angelica among others. In later instars the larvae feed gregariously on the underside of the leaves, creating distinctive feeding windows.