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Key to families | Table of families and genera

This text currently parallels The Jepson Manual: Vascular Plants of California, Second Edition that is now available at the University of California Press.

Text appearing in blue on this page will not appear in the printed book; it will be displayed only on the Web. Specimen numbers are hyperlinked to records in the Consortium of California Herbaria data view where possible. Taxa are hyperlinked to entries in the Jepson Interchange via the "[Online Interchange]" link.

 

CICUTA WATER-HEMLOCK
Perennial, glabrous; rhizome internally chambered, sap becoming ± red-brown in air, fibrous- or tuberous-rooted.
Stem: erect, hollow.
Leaf: blade oblong to triangular- ovate, 1–3- pinnate or ternate- pinnate, leaflets linear to lance- ovate, serrate or irregularly cut.
Inflorescence: umbels compound; bracts generally 0; bractlets generally inconspicuous; rays, pedicels many, spreading.
Flower: calyx lobes minute; petals wide, white, tips narrowed.
Fruit: ovoid to spheric, ± compressed side-to-side; ribs low, corky, occasionally unequally spaced; oil tube 1 per rib-interval; fruit axis divided to base.
Seed: face flat or concave.
± 4 species: Eurasia, North America. (Ancient Latin name) TOXIC: the most lethally toxic native plant species [Lee & Downie 2006 Canad J Bot 84:453–468]
Unabridged references: [Mulligan 1980 Canad J Bot 58:1755–1767]
Unabridged note: Both species below contain cicutoxin, a strong poison; many livestock and human deaths recorded.

Key to Cicuta

1. Fr generally round, rib width >> intervals between; areas surrounded by veins on abaxial leaf surface rough-textured, generally some elongate ..... C. douglasii

1' Fr generally ovate, rib width generally <= intervals between; areas surrounded by veins on abaxial leaf surface smooth, generally rounded or square ..... C. maculata

2. Lf generally 1–2-pinnate; styles < 1 mm; inland ..... var. angustifolia

2' Lf generally 2-pinnate; styles generally > 1 mm; coastal ..... var. bolanderi

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Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) [year] Jepson eFlora, http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/IJM.html [accessed on month, day, year]
Citation for an individual treatment: [Author of taxon treatment] [year]. [Taxon name] in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, [URL for treatment]. Accessed on [month, day, year].
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