Tennessee › Apiaceae
Cow-parsnip
Also known as
American Hogweed; Cow Parsnip; Masterwort
Listed in Tennessee’s rare-plant reference. Use nursery-propagated plants; conservation status is separate from this ecological score.
Calculated with the same rules as North Carolina, using Tennessee host-range and conservation-rank inputs. Native-status evidence is shown separately.
Tennessee scoring method and limits
Insect resources, birds and habitat
| Caterpillars | 3 recorded species on the genus Host genera of native Lepidoptera recorded in Tennessee; host association and range overlap, not confirmed local feeding. |
| Bees | 5 recorded species on the genus Southeastern North America |
| Specialist bees | 0 recorded species on the genus Eastern North America |
| Birds | 0 recorded species on the genus North America |
| Structure | Forb/herb |
Baseline 32; additional insect credit +4. Rarity adjustment -8 using the NC rule (unranked: −5; final score floor: 5). Missing records do not establish zero ecological use.
Native to Tennessee (state-specific source). Tennessee yard-fit calculations are not available yet.
Also available: North Carolina assessment. Both assessments use the same scoring rules with the evidence shown for each state.
Recorded in your county?
Choose a county to check the available records.
County occurrence is not proof of native range or yard suitability. A missing record does not establish absence.
| Tennessee status | Native to Tennessee (state-specific source) |
| Source conservation rank | S2 |
| Recorded in Tennessee | 8 counties in the atlas snapshot |
Growing conditions
Full sun to shade, moderately wet to medium moisture level, adapted to a wide range of soils including clay, moderately acid to neutral pH. 6-8 feet height, blooms spring into summer, white flowers, spreads rapidly by seed.
Native Region: Only in Stewart, Polk, Blount, Cocke, Greene, Washington, and Unicoi counties UT Smart Yards source
Native-status evidence
Combined TN–KY atlas flag: Y. A regional flag alone does not settle Tennessee native status.
Combined-source assessment
Native to Tennessee (state-specific source)
A TN-specific UT native-guide page or an exact entry in the Tennessee rare-plant list supports a direct source claim. Otherwise, TN occurrence plus an atlas native flag and exact-name native evidence from NC flora or USDA L48 supports a provisional state inference. No one regional claim or occurrence alone establishes TN nativity; NC and L48 claims retain their actual scopes.
UT Tennessee Smart Yards native-plant guide: native (TN). Native Region: Only in Stewart, Polk, Blount, Cocke, Greene, Washington, and Unicoi counties
Tennessee Natural Heritage rare-plant list (2025): native (TN). Heracleum maximum Cow-parsnip MOIST WOODS AND FLOODPLAINS FL: MAY-JUL, FR: JUL-AUG WR, RV, BR S S2 G5 Heteranthera limosa Blue Mud-plantain MUD FLATS FL: JUN-SEPT, FR: JUN-SEPT WR, CB, CP, MF T S1S2 G5
NC vascular flora: native (NC).
USDA PLANTS: native (L48). AK:N CAN:N L48:N SPM:N
TN–KY Plant Atlas: native (TN–KY).
Sources
- Tennessee–Kentucky Plant Atlas
- UT Smart Yards
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025: Tennessee range and host extract
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database, growth habit (public domain)
- Robertson 1929, Illinois flower visitors; GloBI contributor transcription (visits, not confirmed pollination)
- Penn & Crist 2018, ant–seed interactions; USA/Canada observations
Machine-readable: plant evidence.
Quercus Score v0.6.4 · built 2026-09-26 · Tennessee beta · sources and limitations on every page