Copy permalink to share
Apiaceae
Cicuta

not marked as a favorite taxon Cicuta Linnaeus. Common name: Water-hemlock.

Key to Cicuta

A genus of 8 species, perennial herbs, north temperate in distribution (Plunkett et al. 2018).

Glossary (beta!)

Subfamily: Apioideae. Tribe: Oenantheae.

ID notes: Robust, upright perennials, often marked with purple spots and streaks on the stems, providing a distinctive appearance. The leaves are finely dissected and can be mistaken for other non-toxic plants. It produces petite, white flowers organized in umbels, resembling delicate lacy umbrellas. All species are toxic and can be deadly if ingested. When the plant is damaged, cicutoxin is exuded as a colorless liquid that becomes reddish as it oxidizes.

References: Mathias & Constance (1945); McNeil (2024) In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2024); Mulligan (1980); Plunkett et al. (2018a) In Kadereit & Bittrich (2018). Show full citations.

Show in key(s)

Show parent family | Show parent in key(s)

Show species in Cicuta

Your browser does not support SVGs

Hover over a shape, letter, icon, or arrow on the map for definition or see the legend. Data for arrows not developed for genera and families which may have species only occurring outside the flora area.

image #1 of Cicuta© Richard & Teresa Ware CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
image #2 of Cicuta© Joey Shaw source | Original Image ⭷
image #3 of Cicuta© Erik Danielson | Cicuta bulbifera source | Original Image ⭷

Feedback

See something missing or incorrect about Cicuta? Let us know here:
  1. Please include your name and if possible, email in case when need to clarify what you wrote.
  2. If you opt out of including email, please be as specific as possible (e.g., which photo is incorrect?)
  3. Please do not submit questions asking to identify plants or about horticultural topics (e.g., how do I control an invasive plant in my garden?). Instead, those questions can be submitted here for the Carolinas region only.
  4. Please do not send us feedback about unkeyed species as this work is ongoing.
  5. Please allow time for flora edits to show in our next data release. We greatly appreciate your feedback but may require extra time to research complicated taxonomic issues.