a well known garden vegetable. It is a native of Europe, but is raised in all temperate climates. It is biennial. It produces a carrot-shaped root one year and seed the next year. It is a robust-growing plant, sending up a strong, grooved, hollow stem. It produces an umbel of small flowers, succeeded by thin, flat seeds. When allowed to run wild the parsnip ceases to produce a spindle-shaped root, and not infrequently seeds the first year. Parsnips are used for the table and for feeding stock. There are several wild plants of the name. They belong to the parsnip family, but are not closely related to each other. Among these are the hemlock parsnip found in low meadows; the cow parsnip, a stout, woolly plant with immense leaves, found around the edges of copses; the meadow parsnip with bright yellow flowers; the water parsnip, and a related plant known as the water hemlock. The roots of the latter resemble those of the parsnip, but they are poisonous and should not be eaten. See VEGETABLES.