_Pastinaca sativa_
_Flowers_--Dull or greenish yellow, small, without involucre or
involucels; borne in 7 to 15 rayed umbels, 2 to 6 in. across. _Stem:_ 2
to 5 ft. tall, stout, smooth, branching, grooved, from a long, conic,
fleshy, strong-scented root. _Leaves:_ Compounded (pinnately), of
several pairs of oval, lobed, or cut sharply toothed leaflets; the
petioled lower leaves often 1-1/2 ft. long.
_Preferred Habitat_--Waste places, roadsides, fields.
_Flowering Season_--June-September.
_Distribution_--Common throughout nearly all parts of the United States
and Canada. Europe.
Men are not the only creatures who feed upon such of the umbel-bearing
plants as are innocent--parsnips, celery, parsley, carrots, caraway, and
fennel, among others; and even those which contain properties that are
poisonous to highly organized men and beasts, afford harmless food for
insects. Pliny says that parsnips, which were cultivated beyond the
Rhine in the days of Tiberius, were brought to Rome annually to please
the emperor’s exacting palate, yet this same plant, which has overrun
two continents, in its wild state (when its leaves are a paler yellowish
green than under cultivation) often proves poisonous. A strongly acrid
juice in the very tough stem causes intelligent cattle to let it
alone--precisely the object desired.