Pastinaca sativa Parsnip DD I
There are three sub species of Parsnip to be seen. One, the wild variety, is ssp sylvestris and is a native of limestone and chalk; the other, ssp sativa, is the the cultivated parsnip and a rare third ssp urens is found near the coast of east Anglia only. At these sites the likelihood is that any parsnips will have escaped from one of the many fields under cultivation so this one is probably the introduced variety ssp sativa.
P. sativa is commonest in England particularly in the midlands and the south. Records are common round the coast of Wales but become fewer as you go north. It is uncommon in Ireland.
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| Pastinaca sativa Parsnip |
LHS: West Bexington, Dorset, 30th May 2006 RHS: Breckland, 18th June 2005
Added on November 11th 2005, updated 21st February 2011