Purple-splotched hollow stems, lacy leaves, white umbels. Deadly. Do not touch your mouth after handling.

A biennial that can top 8 ft. Stems are smooth, hollow, and blotched with purple. Leaves are finely divided, ferny, with a musty mouse-urine smell when crushed. Flowers are tiny white umbels like Queen Anne’s lace, but the plant has no hairy stem and no single dark floret.

Habitat

Ditch banks, old pastures, roadsides, creek edges throughout Dearborn County.

Season

Rosettes overwinter; blooms May–July.

Size

4–10 ft

Field marks

Purple stem blotches; hairless; musty smell; white umbels

All parts are poisonous. Alkaloids paralyze the breathing muscles. Never use as a wild carrot. Call 911 and Poison Control 1-800-222-1222 if ingested.