Pastinaca sativa

Garden parsnip

Family: Apiaceae · Type: biennial · Not Native

Garden parsnip is a naturalized biennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern California Coast Ranges, high California Ranges, Sacramento Valley, Central Coast, Transverse Ranges, and North Coast Ranges in roadsides and disturbed areas at elevations below 1,600 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces small yellow flowers in flat-topped clusters. Growing 0.5 to 2 meters tall with conspicuously angled and grooved stems that are nearly hairless, it spreads readily in open landscapes. Its large compound leaves feature 5 to 11 leaflets, each 5 to 10 centimeters long, with coarsely serrated edges that are oblong to ovate in shape. The fruit is 4 to 6 millimeters wide, forming oblong to round seed structures.

Habitat: Roadsides, disturbed areas

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: < 1600 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRO, NCoRI, CaRH, ScV, CCo, TR, MP

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.