Conioselinum gmelinii - Pacific Hemlock-parsley
Family: Apiaceae - Carrot Family [E-flora]
"Conioselinum pacificum is a PERENNIAL. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects.
Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline and saline soils.
It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil." [PFAF]
"General: Glabrous perennial herb from a short, stout rhizomatous stem-base with a cluster of fleshy roots or a taproot, sometimes glaucous; stems solitary, 0.2-1.2 m tall." [IFBC-E-flora]
"Leaves: Stem leaves egg-shaped to deltoid in outline, 2-4 times pinnately dissected, with lobed or cleft leaflets; leaflet stalks sheathing at base, the blades 15-30 cm long." [IFBC-E-flora]
"Flowers: Inflorescence of 1 or more compound umbels; flowers white, small, numerous in 8-30 small, compact heads; involucral bracts linear, 1-few or lacking." [IFBC-E-flora]
"Fruits: Oblong-oval, 5.0-8.5 mm long, glabrous, ribbed, the lateral ribs with broad, thin wings." [IFBC-E-flora]
"Habitat / Range Moist to mesic coastal bluffs, sandy beaches, tidal marshes and bog woodlands in the lowland zone; common along the coast in BC; N to AK and S to CA." [IFBC-E-flora]
Origin Status: Native [E-flora]
Edible Uses
- Root
- "Cooked[105, 177, 256]. Native North American Indians would mark plants in the summer and then harvest them in the spring before the new shoots emerged. The plant produces a root cluster, only the larger roots were removed, the smaller ones being left in the ground to continue growing. The roots were steamed for some hours before being eaten[256]. Some reports say that the roots are sweet and tasty, though others say that they have a strong flavour and can cause diarrhoea[256]. If trying out this plant as a food then caution is advised[256]." [PFAF]
- "Hemlock-parsley (Conioselinum pacificum; syn. C. chinense) is now suggested to be one of the "wild carrots," whose roots were eaten. These were sought and eaten, usually cooked or occasionally raw, by Coastal peoples of British Columbia, including Northern Wakashan groups (Kwakwaka'wakw, Haisla, Heiltsuk, Oowekela) and Coast Salish (Sechelt), and probably Squamish, Halkomelem and others. Boas (1921) describes the Kwakwaka'wakw (Southern Kwakiutl) harvesting and preparation of "wild carrots" in detail. They were dug in the spring, placed in a flat-bottomed basket, and cooked in a steaming pit for several hours. In more recent times they were boiled in kettles. Very few people today recall their use, but Brian Compton interviewed some Wakashan elders who were still able to identify them." [Turner&Kuhnlein]
- "Cooked[105, 177, 256]. Native North American Indians would mark plants in the summer and then harvest them in the spring before the new shoots emerged. The plant produces a root cluster, only the larger roots were removed, the smaller ones being left in the ground to continue growing. The roots were steamed for some hours before being eaten[256]. Some reports say that the roots are sweet and tasty, though others say that they have a strong flavour and can cause diarrhoea[256]. If trying out this plant as a food then caution is advised[256]." [PFAF]
Medicinal Uses
- Leaves
"When a person felt generally weak, a sweat bath was set up, consisting of red hot stones covered with layers of Fucus, Conioselinum leaves, and yellow cedar tips (Chamaecyparis noothatensis). Salt water was poured on, and the patient lay down on the yellow cedar, covered with a blanket. After a steam bath, he was rubbed with four pieces of softened yellow cedar bark. These were taken to dry under the trees from which the tips were taken. It was hoped that the disease would dry up with the bark (Boas, 1966)." [Turner&Bell2]
"Seed - we have no information for this species but suggest sowing the seed as soon as it is ripe if possible. Sow stored seed in early spring. As soon as they are large enough to handle, prick out the young seedlings into individual pots and plant them out once they are 20cm or more tall. Division of the rootstock in the spring. Divisions can be planted out straight into their permanent positions." [PFAF]
"We have very little information on this species and do not know if it will be hardy in Britain. However, judging by its native range it is likely to be hardy in all parts of the country and, judging by its native habitat, is likely to require a well-drained soil and a sunny position. It is also likely to be tolerant of saline soils[K]. One report says that the correct name for this species is C. gmelinii[257]." [PFAF]
Synonyms
- Conioselinum chinense [E-flora]
- Conioselinum chinense var. pacificum (S. Watson) B. Boivin [E-flora]
- Conioselinium pacificum [E-flora]
- [E-flora] http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Conioselinum%20gmelinii&redblue=Both&lifeform=7 [Accessed: 5/11/2015]
- [PFAF] http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Conioselinum+pacificum, Accessed May 11, 2015
Conioselinum Sp.
"Perennial herb, taprooted or short-rhizomed, glabrous or ± scabrous in inflorescence. Stem: erect, branched. Leaf: blade ovate to widely triangular, 1–4-pinnately or -ternate-pinnately dissected or compound; segments or leaflets toothed or lobed to deeply cut; sheaths conspicuously dilated. Inflorescence: umbels compound; bracts generally 0; bractlets generally present, ± scarious; rays, pedicels many, spreading-ascending. Flower: calyx lobes 0 or minute; petals wide, white, tip notched. Fruit: oblong to ovate, compressed front-to-back; marginal ribs thin-winged, wide, abaxial low, corky, or all ribs winged; oil tubes 1–4 per rib-interval; fruit axis divided to base. Seed: face flat or ± concave.
± 10 species: North America, Eurasia. (Combined generic names Conium + Selinum)" [Jepson]
Local Species;
- Conioselinum gmelinii - Pacific hemlock-parsley [E-flora]
Uses of Other, Non-local Sp.
Conioselinum chinense (L.) Britt., Sternset Pogg.Family: Apiaceae Aerial Part - Essential oil, % dry wt: 0.38 Fruit - Essential oil, % dry wt: 0.89 Root(with rhizome) - Essential oil, % dry wt: 0.62 [LEE]
"Conioselinum scopulorum Coult. and Rose (Apiaceae). Rocky Mountain hemlock parsley. The Kayenta Navajo of North America smoked the plant to treat catarrh (Wyman and Harris 1951)." [UAPDS]
Conioselinum tataricum Hoffm. Family: Apiaceae Essential oil, % dry wt: 1.3 Aerial Part - Essential oil, % dry wt: 0.08–0.27 Fruit - Essential oil, % dry wt: 0.34–0.43 [LEE]
Conioselinum univittatum Turcz. - Gong Chong - (root) Essential oil.49 - Emmenagogue, sedative [CRNAH]
References;
- [Jepson] 2013. Conioselinum, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_IJM.pl?tid=10176, accessed on Jan 28 2015
- [LEE] A.I. Glushenkova (ed.), Lipids, Lipophilic Components and Essential Oils from Plant Sources, DOI 10.1007/978-0-85729-323-7, # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012