Heracleum maximum

           Cow Parsnip

Bracts Top

Moose Mountain Provincial Park
06-July-2009

The bracts subtend the set of umbellet-bearing rays.  The rays have been severed at their bases and removed for the purpose of this photograph.  Flora of the Great Plains states that the bracts are sometimes absent, and if present wither very early.

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Heracleum: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora (BF)  and Flora of Alberta (FOA) leading to this genus. 
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NOT [plants with a bluish tinge, flowers in dense globose heads, bracts spiny]

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foliage NOT spiny

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lowest leaves (and the upper) compound; NOT [lowest leaves simple]

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leaves usually trifoliolate; NOT [leaves simple], NOT [leaves with more than 3 leaflets], NOT [leaves much divided, with leaflets or segments numerous], NOT [leaves palmate with 5-7 large leaflets]

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leaflets palmate

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leaflets 10-30 cm wide; NOT [leaflets much smaller]

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plants LACKING axillary bulblets; NOT [plants with axillary bulblets largely replacing flowers]

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inflorescence NOT bluish

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fruit NOT spiny; NOT [fruit covered with short, hooked spines]

 

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Umbelliferae: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora leading to this family.
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herbs; NOT [shrubs or trees]

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plants terrestrial or semiaquatic; NOT [plants aquatic, leaves submerged or floating]

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plants NOT with colored milky juice

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stems hollow

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plants with more than one normal leaf

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some or all leaves alternate; NOT [leaves opposite, whorled, or basal]

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leaves without stipules, or having glands; NOT [leaves with stipules]

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flowers in umbels

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flowers with two floral rings, and with each petal distinct from the others

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parts of flowers mostly in fives; NOT [parts of flowers in twos or fours]

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calyx regular; NOT [calyx irregular, some sepals smaller than others]

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stamens 10 or fewer; NOT [stamens usually more than 10]

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styles 2; NOT [styles 5]

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ovary inferior; NOT [ovary superior]