Oenanthe pimpinelloides (L)
Corky~Fruited Water Dropwort
NOMENCLATURE
Oenanthe : see 0. crocota.
Dropwort : see 0. aquatica.
BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION
TYPE: glabrous, erect, branched perennial. Hs.
ROOTS: ovoid tubers, distant from base of stem.
STEM: solid, strongly grooved. HEIGHT : 100cm.
UMBELS: 2-5cm. diam, terminal, compound, 6-15 smooth stout rays
1-2 cm, thickening after firing. Peduncle > than rays. Terminal with long-pedicel late
male firs & short pedunculate hermaphrodite flrs. Lateral male only. Partial umbels flat
topped in fruit, pedicels thickening. after flowering, esp. near glabrous apex.
LEAVES: lower 2-pinnate, long-petiolate. Segments 5mm, lanceolate to ovate, cuneate at
base, deeply toothed or pinnatifid. Upper 1-2 pinnate, blade > as petiole. Lobes
10-30mm, linear, entire. Cotyledons contracted to a petiole.
BRACTS: 1-5, linear-lanceolate unequal. Bracteoles 12-20, linear
to linear-lanceolate = pedicels.
FLOWERS: white 3-4mm. Sepals acute, persistent, outer petals
radiating. unequal. Styles form a stylopodium. Fl. 6-7.
FRUIT: 3.5 mm. cylindrical, Cormmisure broad. Mericarps with
prominent ridges. Carpophore present. Vittae solitary. Styles
3mm, > than fruit, erect. Stigma a small knob. 2n=22
HABITAT: damp meadows, moist grassy places.
DISTRIBUTION: native, locally common from E. Devon, & N. Somerset
to Hampshire, very local elsewhere. S. of a line from Worcs.
to Essex. One locality in Cork. W.& S. Europe. S.W. Asia.
EDIBLE USES
Roots esteemed as a food. Burnett, 'Medical Botany'
"They are replete with a bland farina 'and have flavour of a filbert.”
