(Wild) parsnip (Pastinaca sativa L.)
In the Nordic Region, several of our cultivated plants are also represented by their wild counterparts. One of these – the parsnip – is much more common than most people think. It grows commonly up to about 62oN but occurs occasionally much further north than that. Eurasia serves as the origin of parsnip, although the taxon is nowadays introduced in other parts of the world as well, and North America in particular.
Parsnip grows preferentially in areas influenced by man and, notably, roadsides often glow yellow from the half-meter tall plants. Botanically speaking, the parsnip belongs to the umbelliferous plants (Apiaceae) and is thus related to carrot, fennel, caraway, parsley and many others. Goutweed (Aegopodium podagraria L.), introduced since long as a herbal plant, is another relative.
This family, however, is well-known to also contain several highly toxic species, such as hemlock (Conium maculatum L.), water hemlock (Cicuta virosa L.) and fool’s parsley (Aethusa cynapium L.), so it is indeed essential to know what to taste! Three subspecies are known – ssp. sativa, ssp. sylvestris and ssp. urens – of which the latter is more southern and only occurs infrequently in Denmark and Sweden.
Like all root crops, parsnip is biennial. This means that the root develops in the first year, and from the overwintering root and leaf rosette, the flower stalk shoots up the second year. The plant has a typical yellow-yellow green colour that makes it easy to recognize in nature. The root shape of bred cultivars of parsnip varies from elongated to shorter and more rounded. Among Swedish cultivars, the varieties ‘Student’ and ‘Tribut‘ were grown historically. However, seed of parsnip very quickly loses their vigour – even under optimal storage – and neither of these varieties are conserved at NordGen. The only Nordic variety currently stored by the genebank is ‘Skandia’ from Denmark.
