wild parsnips

[osie]

I was going to ask this question last year about a plant with a long root that invaded the garden but I did not take a pic and so it didnt happen.

This year, I went pulling them all up... so pleasing was it to pull such a big root up with minimal effort.

That is until I realised it was the dangerous 'wild parsnip'... I got my hands covered in blisters.

It has lush leaves at the moment and later is more fennel plant looking... the fennel looking one I already was under the impression caused a rash but I did not realise they are one and the same.

I suggest if you dont know about them then google and wikipedi it as it is quite interesting....

The silver lining is that it appears the parsnip roots is very edible... so when I heal I will attempt to pull them up again brandished with a pair of gardening gloves and some olive oil.

[Pierre ZFP]

Won't the oil make them slippery and hard to get a good grip?

Oh .... I see what you mean [:$]

 

 

[Tancrède]

Wild parsnips are delicious.

I will just point out, for the benefit of the unwary, that another handsome fennel-like and extremely invasive plant, with smooth stems and leaves, purple blotches, and a characteristic mousy smell, which also has thick parsnip-like roots, is extremely poisonous  -  as Socrates discovered.

But whereas wild parsnips are found in poor, limey ground, hemlock favours richer and damper locations.  This plant also tends to produce blains on the hands if handled robustly.