Douglas' water-hemlock (western water hemlock)
Apiaceae
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Stout perennial herb from a taproot or cluster of tuberous roots; stems solitary or few together from a tuberous-thickened and chambered base, leafy, glabrous, 0.5-2 m tall.
Leaves:
Basal and stem leaves divided 1-3 times, leaflets 3-4 times as long as broad, lanceolate to narrowly oblong or elliptic, these sharply pointed and toothed, 4-7 mm long; lateral veins ending at base of the teeth.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of several to many small, compact clusters forming several compound umbels; flowers white to greenish; involucral bracts mostly lacking.
Fruits:
Egg-shaped to orbicular, 2-4 mm long, glabrous, corky-thickened; ribs unequal, with a narrow raised border on edge of dark intervals.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
White
Blooming Period:
Late Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present over the Summer
Source: The USDA
Ecology
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
811 | 0 | 2090 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
2 | 0 | 80 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
174 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
6 | 4 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
256 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
SBS | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BG(5), BWBS(8), CDF(5), CWH(46), ESSF(30), ICH(43), IDF(19), MS(7), PP(3), SBPS(4), SBS(72) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Wet stream edges, ditches and marshes in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; common throughout BC except the Queen Charlotte Islands; N to AK and S to ID, NV and CA.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Cicuta maculata var. californica (A. Gray) B. Boivin
Taxonomic Keys
KEY TO CICUTA
1. Axils of leaves with bulblets; leaflets with narrowly linear segments C. bulbifera 1. Axils of leaves without bulblets; leaflets lanceolate. 2. Fruits slightly broader than long; midvein on upper leaflet surface scabrous C. virosa 2. Fruits from as broad as long to longer than broad; midvein on upper leaflet surface glabrous. 3. Leaflets 3-4 times as long as broad, lanceolate to narrowly oblong or elliptic; fruit with a narrow raised border along edge of dark interval C. douglasii Leaflets more than 5 times as long as broad, linear to narrowly lanceolate; fruit without a raised border along edge of dark interval C. maculata |