Aethusa cynapium (L) Fool's Parsley
NOMENCLATURE
Aethusa: from Greek : to burn : ref. to shiny foliage.
cynapium: from Greek : cyn : dog & : apium : celery.
Tabernaemontanus.
OTHER NAMES: lesser hemlock, dog parsley, snakes food. Gleisse
from gleissen to glitter, (Germany). Cow parsley, dog’s poison;
lace curtains, pig dock, (Som). Devil wand, (Dor). False parsley, (Shrop).
BSBI Picture Link to Aethusa cynapium
BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION
TYPE : robust. glabourous annual, erect. Th. HEIGHT : 5-120 cm.
STATUS : Poisonous. STEMS : hollow, finely striate, glaucous.
UMBELS : 2-6 mm diam. Terminal and leaf opposed. Slightly domed. Rays (4)10-20 ;
0.5-3cm antrorsely serrulate on the angles. Peduncle > than rays. All hermaphrodite.
LEAVES : 2-3 pinnate, oval to elliptical, lower withering at flrng. Lobes 5-15mm,
pinnatifid, lanceolate to ovate in outline, acute, antrorsely scabrid margins. Petiole
short, sheathing. Cotyledons contracted into petiole.
BRACTS : absent. Bracteoles pendent, on outer side of partial umbels, subulate 3-5, linear.
FLOWERS : white. 2mm. Calyx teeth 0 or small. 5 even petals, unequal with notched
inflexed apex. Styles form stylopodium. Fl. 7-8.
FRUIT : 2 parted, 3-4mm, broadly ovoid, compressed dorsally. Commisure broad. Mericarps:
prominent heel ridge, very broad, lateral also. Carpophore present. Vittae solitary in furrows.
Pedicels slender. Styles as long as & closely appressed to stylopodium. Stigma capitate. 2n=20.
HABITAT : arable & waste land, gardens, farms,open woods,
roadsides, river banks at low altitudes.
DISTRIBUTION : native. Common. S. & S.W. Britain, coastal in
Scotland. Introduced to N. America & Algeria.
BSBI Distribution Map for Aethusa cynapium (UK)
SUBSPECIES : Subsp. agrestis. Subsp. cynapium.
ACTIVE INGREDIENTS : conine and cynopine, aethitsine, ethusanol. Toxicity due
to organic compounds polyines or polyacetylenes.
POISONING PRINCIPLES
Same as Hemlock, but milder. State of excitement on ingestion, then depression, paralysis of
skeletal muscles, vomiting, diarrhoea, pupils dilated, death by suffocation, does not affect the
heart. Roots mistaken for radish, leaves for Parsley.
HISTORICAL MEDICINAL USES
As stomachic, sedative, gastro intestinal troubles in children, diarrhoea, cholera infantum
EXTERNAL LINKS FOR Aethusa cynapium
These links to trusted websites and institutions may provide in depth or additional information regards cultivation, chemistry, edibility, images etc. for the species. Links last updated Aug 2012.
Wikipedia (EU) Plants For a Future (UK) Nature Gate (FIN)
Bio Info (UK) BIO Images (UK) APHOTOFLORA (UK)
ABC Homoeopathy (UK)
Prof Cowperthwaite Materia Medica (SWE)
'Online Guide To Umbelliferae Of British Isles' Compiled By J.M.Burton 2002
