{"id":5309,"date":"2025-09-02T11:07:05","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T16:07:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/?p=5309"},"modified":"2026-01-27T07:47:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T13:47:04","slug":"these-arent-carrots-why-you-shouldnt-hunger-for-hemlocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/2025\/09\/02\/these-arent-carrots-why-you-shouldnt-hunger-for-hemlocks\/","title":{"rendered":"These Aren\u2019t Carrots: Don’t Go Hungering for Hemlocks"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hemlock has bored its way through time and space, showing up in everything from famous Greek executions to cultural hunting tactics to countryside family frolicks gone heartbreakingly wrong. In 21st century life in Minnesota, though, do we know what we’re speaking of when we speak on Hemlock? Here, I intend to get the facts straight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which Hemlock?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minnesota has three kinds of toxic hemlock: Water Hemlock (Cicuta maculata<\/em>), Bulblet-bearing Water Hemlock (Cicuta bulbifera<\/em>), and Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum<\/em>). Water Hemlock (Cicuta maculata<\/em>) and Bulblet-bearing Water Hemlock <\/em>(Cicuta bulbifera<\/em>) are native, while Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum<\/em>) is non-native.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do we tell?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, we must distinguish the three plants botanically and visually. All are members of the carrot\/parsnip family, Apiaceae<\/em>, and thus look similar in appearance to other species in this group. All have flat, white umbels and hollow stems. Both Water Hemlock and Poison Hemlock have purple spots\/splotches.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Poison Hemlock<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n