Fool's-watercress | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Apiales |
Family: | Apiaceae |
Genus: | Helosciadium |
Species: | H. nodiflorum |
Binomial name | |
Helosciadium nodiflorum | |
Helosciadium nodiflorum [2] (synonym: Apium nodiflorum), fool's watercress, [1] is a flowering plant found in ditches or streams, as well as fresh and brackish-water wetlands native to western Europe. It is not poisonous to humans but it could be easily confused with the allegedly poisonous lesser water parsnip.
Helosciadium nodiflorum is a low-growing or prostrate hairless perennial up to 1 m tall, with a thick, hollow, faintly ridged stem which, when lying down (procumbent) produces roots at the nodes. It has glossy pinnate leaves, each of which has 4-6 opposite pairs of toothed, oval to lanceolate leaflets that are slightly paler green on the undersides. There are ridges at the nodes of the leaflets which are often paler than the rhachis and look like rings. (Note, this is different from lesser water-parsnip, which has a ring on the petiole.) The petioles are hollow with a distinctive single groove on upper surface, and may be streaked with red/purple lines; they are laterally inflated towards the base and clasp the stem. [3] The crushed leaves smell of carrot.
In 2010 a taxonomic revision demonstrated that the genus Apium was polyphyletic and needed to be split into three genera. Five of the 7 European species of Apium were therefore moved to the genus Helosciadium, as had first been proposed by Wilhelm Koch in 1824. Apium nodiflorum was among them, and is therefore now correctly called Helosciadium nodiflorum W.D.J. Koch. [4]
The genus is noted for the high rate of hybridization between its species, and the following hybrids have been described:
Helosciadium nodiflorum is common throughout England, Wales and Ireland but much less so in Scotland. [9] It often grows with watercress in wet places. It blooms in July and August and is found in wet habitats including ditches, springs, fens and ponds. [10] [11] The species is also widely documented from brackish estuarine/salt marsh habitats. [12]
Wild fool's watercress has been traditionally harvested and consumed in several Mediterranean countries, including Spain, Italy, Portugal and Morocco [13] The edible young leaves and tender shoots can be used raw in salads, boiled, or used as a condiment in soups and other dishes. [14] [15]
Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus Apium and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plants, with more than 3,800 species in about 446 genera, including such well-known and economically important plants as ajwain, angelica, anise, asafoetida, caraway, carrot, celery, chervil, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel, lovage, cow parsley, parsley, parsnip and sea holly, as well as silphium, a plant whose exact identity is unclear and which may be extinct.
The parsnip is a root vegetable closely related to carrot and parsley, all belonging to the flowering plant family Apiaceae. It is a biennial plant usually grown as an annual. Its long taproot has cream-colored skin and flesh, and, left in the ground to mature, becomes sweeter in flavor after winter frosts. In its first growing season, the plant has a rosette of pinnate, mid-green leaves. If unharvested, it produces a flowering stem topped by an umbel of small yellow flowers in its second growing season, later producing pale brown, flat, winged seeds. By this time, the stem has become woody, and the tap root inedible. Precautions should be taken when handling the stems and foliage, as parsnip sap can cause a skin rash or even blindness if exposed to sunlight after handling.
Watercress or yellowcress is a species of aquatic flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae.
Heracleum maximum, commonly known as cow parsnip, is the only member of the genus Heracleum native to North America. It is also known as American cow-parsnip, Satan celery, Indian celery, Indian rhubarb, poison turnip or pushki.
Cicuta, commonly known as water hemlock, is a genus of four species of highly poisonous plants in the family Apiaceae. They are perennial herbaceous plants which grow up to 2.5 meters (8 ft) tall, having distinctive small green or white flowers arranged in an umbrella shape (umbel). Plants in this genus may also be referred to as cowbane or poison parsnip. Cicuta is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, mainly North America and Europe, typically growing in wet meadows, along streambanks and other wet and marshy areas. These plants bear a close resemblance to other members in the family Apiaceae and may be confused with a number of edible or poisonous plants. The common name hemlock may also be confused with poison hemlock, or with the Hemlock tree.
Apium is a genus of about 20 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, with a subcosmopolitan distribution in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and Australia. They are medium to tall biennials or perennials growing up to 1 m high in the wet soil of marshes and salt marshes, and have pinnate to bipinnate leaves and small white flowers in compound umbels. Some species are edible, notably Apium graveolens, which includes the commercially important vegetables celery, celeriac and Chinese celery. Apium bermejoi from the island of Menorca is one of the rarest plants in Europe, with fewer than 100 individuals left.
Helosciadium bermejoi, synonym Apium bermejoi, is a critically endangered species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae.
Sium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae. It is widely distributed across Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America. Plants of this genus are commonly called water parsnips.
Sium suave, the water parsnip or hemlock waterparsnip, is a perennial wildflower in the family Apiaceae. It is native to many areas of both Asia and North America. The common name water parsnip is due to its similarity to parsnip and its wetland habitat. The alternate common name hemlock waterparsnip is due to its similarity to the highly poisonous spotted water hemlock.
Berula erecta, known as lesser water-parsnip or cutleaf waterparsnip or narrow-leaved water-parsnip, is a member of the carrot family. Growing to around 1 m (3 ft) tall, it is found in or by water. It is widespread across much of Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America.
Euleia heraclei, known as the celery fly or the hogweed picture-wing fly is a species of tephritid or fruit flies in the genus Euleia of the family Tephritidae.
Totteridge Common is a 3.7 hectare Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade II, in Totteridge in the London Borough of Barnet. The nature reserve is the southern verge of the road Totteridge Common, between Totteridge Park and Oak Lodge. It is registered common land owned by the Totteridge Manor Association and comprised the lands of the former Manor of Totteridge which were transferred to the association in 1954.
Epermenia chaerophyllella, also known as the garden lance-wing, is a moth of the family Epermeniidae first described by Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1783. It is found in all of Europe and Asia Minor.
Helosciadium × longipedunculatum, synonym Apium × longipedunculatum, is a hybrid plant in the umbellifer family (Apiaceae); the result of hybridisation between Helosciadium repens and Helosciadium nodiflorum.
× Beruladium procurrens is an intergeneric hybrid plant in the umbellifer family (Apiaceae); the result of hybridisation between Berula erecta and Helosciadium nodiflorum.
Helosciadium is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Apiaceae.
Helosciadium repens commonly known as creeping marshwort, is a species of plant belonging to the Apiaceae family. It occurs in Western and Central Europe, being rare throughout its range. It grows in wetland areas where it does not have to compete with taller plants due to grazing by animals, periodic flooding during the winter-spring seasons, or mowing. It is considered a species of near-threatened status at the continental level, critically endangered and legally protected in Poland. It is subject to protection within the European Natura 2000 network.
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