Water Parsnip

(Sium suave)

ORIGIN: Canada.

HABITAT: Swamps, low marshy ground, river and lake shores, shallow water.

DESCRIPTION: Perennial, spreading by seeds.

STEMS: Erect, 0.5 to two m high, smooth, hollow, may have poorly defined cross partitions at the base.

LEAVES: Alternate, 10-40 cm long, leaves above the water consisting of saw-edged leaflets, arranged in pairs along the leaf stem, a leaflet at the tip, leaflets variable in width. Leaves below water are much more finely divided.

FLOWERS: White, in compound umbels (an umbel is a cluster of flowers with each flower stalk arising from the same point), with several narrow bracts below the main flower head and below each small cluster.

SEEDS: Two per flower, each seed with prominent ribs.

Please refer to Saskatchewan Agriculture's Guide to Crop Protection for current herbicide rates and application recommendations.