Thaspium barbinode (Michx.) Nutt.

Hairy-joint meadow-parsnip, meadow parsnip

Native to the central and eastern United States, hairy-joint meadow-parsnip’s ungainly common name traces to a nearly invisible feature of the plant, stiff hairs just beneath branch points in the stem. There is a good photo here.

Plants: Up to 3½′ (1 m) tall, and sparsely branched. Stems are hairless, and light green to reddish purple.

Leaves: Basal leaves are 2–10″ (6–25 cm) long, divided once or twice into lanceolate to ovate leaflets ⅜–4½″ (1–12 cm) long. Stem leaves are alternate, and compound—divided two or three times, resembling Italian parsely. Each leaflet is coarsely toothed, 1–2 ⨉ ½–1″ (2.5–5 ⨉ 1.3–2.5 cm). At the base of uppermost leaf sheaths, where the leaf branches, a purple-tinged leaf sheaf with stiff white hairs is sometimes visible.

Flowers: Umbels of bright yellow flowers, with flattish tops, are 2–3″ (5–7.6 cm) across. The inflorescences extend stalks that support 8-20 groups of umbellets, each with up to 20 flowers. Each diminutive flower, about ⅛″ (3.2 mm) in size, is on its own tiny pedicel. It has 5 infolded yellow petals and five yellow stamens. The folded flowers look like buds. Flowers appear in late spring or early summer.

Fruits: Schizocarps are ~3/16″ (5–6 mm) long, two-sectioned, oval-elliptic, slightly flattened, ridged with broad wings along most ridges. Seeds are oblong, up to about ¼ inch long, ripen to dark brown.

Habitats: Mesic black soil prairies, openings in forests and woodland borders, sandy savannas, limestone and sandstone bluffs, and banks of rivers and lakes.

Similar species.

Online References:

Older scientific or horticultural names

Thaspium barbinode description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.

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