Heracleum maximum, June 28, 2023
Common & scientific name
Cow parsnip, Heracleum maximum
Family
Parsley, Apiaceae
Location
Difficult, 8,100’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This giant of the aspen forests is unmistakable, for its height and width, its enormous maple-like leaves, and platter-sized white umbels of flowers.
This from a fascinating, and just-discovered (by me) website called The Botanist, sponsored by Islay Dry Gin, which brings together and shares recommendations from foragers: “Cow parsnip has been used historically as fodder for livestock, and the scent of its flowers (the only non-delicious part) is of dung and pigs (to attract midges, flies and hoverflies) perhaps explaining the unglamorous common English name [“Common hogweed," which, needless to say, I will not be using!] . . . . Common hogweed also comes with a health warning. As the leaves develop and start to photosynthesise, it develops a sap that can sensitize the skin to bright sunlight, to the point where a recurring burn appears.”