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Taxon:  Heracleum sphondylium L.



Summary
Genus:
Heracleum
Family:
Apiaceae (alt. Umbelliferae)
Subfamily:
Apioideae
Tribe:
Tordylieae
Subtribe:
Tordyliinae
Nomen number:
70346
Place of publication:
Sp. pl. 1:249. 1753
Verified:
03/21/1995 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
0 (0  active, 0  available) in Australian Pastures Genebank. 
Other conspecific taxa
Heracleum sphondylium L. subsp. montanum (Schleich. ex Gaudin) Briq. (0 active accession[s])
Heracleum sphondylium L. subsp. sibiricum (L.) Simonk. (0 active accession[s])
Heracleum sphondylium L. subsp. sphondylium (0 active accession[s])
Heracleum sphondylium L. subsp. ternatum (Velen.) Brummitt (0 active accession[s])
Heracleum sphondylium L. subsp. transsilvanicum (Schur) Brummitt (0 active accession[s])
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
No images


Reference(s)
  1. Aldén, B., S. Ryman & M. Hjertson. Våra kulturväxters namn - ursprung och användning. Formas, Stockholm (Handbook on Swedish cultivated and utility plants, their names and origin). 2009
  2. Brummitt, R. K. 1971. Relationship of Heracleum lanatum Michx. of North America to H. sphondylium of Europe. Rhodora 73:580.
  3. CIBA-GEIGY, Basel, Switzerland. The CIBA-GEIGY Weed Tables. 1974
  4. Davis, P. H., ed. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands. 1965-1988
  5. Duke, J. A. et al. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs. 2002
  6. Encke, F. et al. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 13. Auflage. 1984
  7. Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
  8. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
  9. Garibaldi, A. Medicinal flora of the Alaska natives: a compilation of knowledge from literary sources of Aleut, Alutiiq, Athabascan, Eyak, Haida, Inupiat, Tlingit, Tsimshian traditional healing methods using plants. 1999
  10. Huxley, A., ed. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening. 1992
  11. Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. Flora SSSR. 1934-1964
  12. Lampe, K. F. & M. A. McCann. AMA handbook of poisonous and injurious plants. 1985
  13. Magee, D. W. & H. E. Ahles. Flora of the Northeast. A manual of the vascular flora of New England and adjacent New York. 1999
  14. Moerman, D. Native American ethnobotany, ed. 5. 1998
  15. Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
  16. Scoggan, H. J. The flora of Canada, 4 vol. 1978-1979
  17. Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. Flora europaea. 1964-1980
  18. Wiersema, J. H. & B. León. World economic plants: a standard reference (on-line edition) [medicinal plants only].
  19. Webster's third new international dictionary. 1961
Common names
English
cow-parsnip –
hogweed –
meadow-parsnip –
Swedish
björnloka –
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNote
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaMorocco  
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChina  
1NativeAsia-TemperateEastern AsiaJapan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaKazakhstan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaKyrgyzstan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMongoliaMongolia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateRussian Far EastRussian Federation-Far EastFar East 
1NativeAsia-TemperateSiberiaRussian Federation-Eastern SiberiaEastern Siberia 
1NativeAsia-TemperateSiberiaRussian Federation-Western SiberiaWestern Siberia 
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaTurkey  
1NativeEuropeEast EuropeBelarus  
1NativeEuropeEast EuropeEstonia  
1NativeEuropeEast EuropeLatvia  
1NativeEuropeEast EuropeLithuania  
1NativeEuropeEast EuropeMoldova  
1NativeEuropeEast EuropeRussian Federation-European partEuropean part 
1NativeEuropeEast EuropeUkraine  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeAustria  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeBelgium  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeCzech Republic  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeGermany  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeHungary  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeNetherlands  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropePoland  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeSlovakia  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeSwitzerland  
1NativeEuropeNorthern EuropeDenmark  
1NativeEuropeNorthern EuropeFinland  
1NativeEuropeNorthern EuropeIreland  
1NativeEuropeNorthern EuropeNorway  
1NativeEuropeNorthern EuropeSweden  
1NativeEuropeNorthern EuropeUnited Kingdom  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeAlbania  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeBosnia and Herzegovina  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeBulgaria  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeCroatia  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeGreece  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeItaly  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeMacedonia  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeMontenegro  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeRomania  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeSerbia  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeSlovenia  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeFrance  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropePortugal  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeSpain  
4Naturalized     
Native
Africa
  • NORTHERN AFRICA: Morocco
Asia-Temperate
  • CHINA: China
  • EASTERN ASIA: Japan
  • MIDDLE ASIA: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
  • MONGOLIA: Mongolia
  • RUSSIAN FAR EAST: Russian Federation-Far East [Far East]
  • SIBERIA: Russian Federation-Western Siberia [Western Siberia], Russian Federation-Eastern Siberia [Eastern Siberia]
  • WESTERN ASIA: Turkey
Europe
  • EAST EUROPE: Russian Federation-European part [European part], Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, Ukraine
  • MIDDLE EUROPE: Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia
  • NORTHERN EUROPE: Denmark, Finland, United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, Sweden
  • SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia
  • SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: Spain, France, Portugal
Naturalized ()
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Medicinesfolklore Duke, J. A. et al. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs. 2002
Vertebrate poisonsmammals Lampe, K. F. & M. A. McCann. AMA handbook of poisonous and injurious plants. 1985
Weedpotential seed contaminant CIBA-GEIGY, Basel, Switzerland. The CIBA-GEIGY Weed Tables. 1974
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2025. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://apg.pir.sa.gov.au/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=70346. Accessed 17 July 2025.


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