POISON HEMLOCK
File Size: 99 KB
 
Conium maculatum  L.
Lincoln County, Kansas
Biennial
Height: 2-10 feet
Family: Apiaceae - Parsley Family
Flowering Period:   June, July
Stems: Erect, much-branched, ribbed, glabrous, waxy, usually marked with purplish blotches.
Leaves: Alternate, long-stalked below, short-stalked above, 6 to 12 inches long, 2 to 12 inches wide, fern-like, glabrous, 3-4 times odd-pinnately compound; ultimate leaflets oblong to lanceolate, toothed or pinnately divided.
Inflorescences: Umbels, compound, 1.5 to 5 inches wide, flat to rounded, with 8-17 slender, unequal rays.
Flowers: Tiny, about 1/10 inch wide, 5-parted, white; calyx teeth absent; petals 5; tips notched.
Fruits: Egg-shaped, dry, flattened, grayish brown, with 2 wavy ribbed segments; seeds 2, flattened to concave, smooth.
Habitat: Low waste ground, thickets, roadsides, and stream banks, in moist soils.
Distribution: Throughout except southwest corner of Kansas.
Origin: It is native to Europe and naturalized in the United States.
Toxicity: All parts of this plant are highly poisonous to humans and livestock. Contact between the leaves and skin can cause nausea and blurred vision.
Comments: Hemlock is said to have caused the death of Socrates in ancient Greece. Poison hemlock can be confused easily with parsley or wild dill.
Poison hemlock inflorescence
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Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Chase County, Kansas
Poison hemlock
143 KB
Mitchell County, Kansas
Poison hemlock inflorescence
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Ottawa County, Kansas
Poison hemlock
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Ottawa County, Kansas
Poison hemlock leaf
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Ottawa County, Kansas
Poison hemlock stem
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Ottawa County, Kansas
Poison hemlock leaves
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Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Chase County, Kansas
Poison hemlock
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Dickinson County, Kansas
Poison hemlock
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Dickinson County, Kansas
Poison hemlock leaf
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Dickinson County, Kansas
Poison hemlock leaf
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Dickinson County, Kansas