Wild Parsnip
Pastinaca sativa
Found in roadsides, fields. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to Virginia. Not suggested for planting. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 76%
- Height
- 2–5 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Somewhat dry to moist
Sap / sunlight hazard. Avoid skin and eye contact with sap. Sap exposure followed by sunlight can cause burns or dermatitis. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Biennial
- Bloom
- June to July
- Fruiting season
- July to August
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 46 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
9CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Pastinaca
- Autographa precationisCommon Looper Moth
- Depressaria radiellaParsnip Webworm, Cow-Parsnip Flat-Body
- Euxoa tessellataTessellate Dart, Striped Cutworm
- Mythimna unipunctaArmyworm Moth, White Speck
- Ostrinia obumbratalisSmartweed Borer
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Papilio polyxenesBlack Swallowtail, Celery Caterpillar, Fennel Worm, Desert Black Swallowtail, Parsnip Swallowtail
- Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
- Agonopterix clemensella
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimPlant details
- Family
- Apiaceae
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Fruit begins
- July
- Fruit ends
- August
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “June to July” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Yellow” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Fruit begins · “July” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “August” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Height · “2–5 feet” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Life cycle · “Biennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Minnesota Wildflowers differs)
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- primary_flower_color · “yellow” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist; Occasionally dry; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Parsnip
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Native alternatives
Find natives for your gardenSources
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: Northern Tier (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- 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)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications