Eastern Parsnip Reaches Leeds

Eastern Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa subsp. urens) is a recent edition to the British list and appears to be spreading rapidly. The only positive of my taxi ride home today due to the inadequacies of the British rail network is that it allowed me to spot it in a number of locations on the road network. Definitely one to watch out for elsewhere in the region, it seems to favour road margins and the central reservation. See Stace 4 for the distinguishing features (once known it can be told at a glance), and check out its current distribution here. Currently Leeds is its most northerly outpost.

Photo by Emmanuel Stratmains (www.tela-botanica.org via Wikimedia Commons)

Photo by Mathieu Menand (www.tela-botanica.org via Wikimedia Commons)