Medicinal Monday - Water Parsnip

Thriving in wetland areas this wildflower is related to carrots, celery, and parsley.  It has many medicinal uses in Native American culture from its analgesic and digestive properties to its use as a hunting medicine.  The water parsnip is found in Connecticut and other parts of New England.

About the Water Parsnip

This perennial wildflower is found in the wetlands; it is common along shallow marshy streams and is scattered throughout open wet meadows.   It is commonly called a water parsnip because of its resemblance to the parsnip and because of where it grows.  The stem of the water parsnip is light green and grows up to five feet in shallow water in a cluster of aquatic leaves.  Once the leaves have formed the water parsnip rises from the water and blooms from July to August.  This wildflower creates beautiful small white flowers with umbel inflorescences.  These flowers attract a wide variety of insects; bees seek nectar and pollen, flies, wasps, butterflies, and beetles are also attracted to this plant. 

Medicinal Uses

Edible parts of the plant include the root either raw or cooked, which is said to have a nutty flavor and is often eaten by Native Americans.  The leaves and younger stems are also edible after cooking. The Iroquois used water parsnips for their analgesic properties.  They made an infusion of smashed roots into a poultice to treat pain for a broken limb.   Iroquois women would take a decoction of the roots as treatment for epilepsy and the Lakota used an infusion of the roots to help settle the stomach.  The Ojibwa would gather the seeds of this wildflower and smoke them over a fire to drive away and blind any evil spirits that would steal one's hunting luck. The Shuswap considered the white flowers poisonous. 

Did you know...

The Latin name of the water parsnip is Sium that comes from the Latin word sion meaning "water parsley" and the word suave that means "sweet".

Extreme caution should be taken when harvesting any part of this plant in the wild because it resembles several poisonous plants including the Spotted Water Hemlock, which is the most poisonous vascular plant in North America.

Older plants and flowers should be avoided because they are toxic.