Heracleum maximum

           Cow Parsnip

Upper Leaf Bottom

Moose Mountain Provincial Park
06-July-2009

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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]