Pastinaca sativa   Parsnip DD I

Pastanica sativa whole Pastanica sativa close

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.

Pastinica sativa

Pastinaca sativa Parsnip

West Bexington, Dorset, 30th May 2006

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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

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