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Pictured: Cicuta maculata — the species. This variety isn’t separately illustrated.
Apiaceae family

Spotted Water Hemlock (var. maculata) Cicuta maculata var. maculata variety

Native

Spotted Water Hemlock (var. maculata) is a biennial wildflower native to Canada and the lower 48 states.

More about this plant

Cicuta maculata is a highly poisonous species of flowering plant in the carrot family known by several common names, including spotted water hemlock, spotted parsley, and spotted cowbane. It is native to nearly all of North America, from northern Canada to southern Mexico. Wikipedia →

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Conditions
Sources · Conditions
Cold hardiness (derived) — Hardiness
Hardiness
≥ zone 4 derived from its U.S. range
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
Lifespan
Biennial
In the garden
Herb layer — Sits in the herb of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.

Wildlife & pollinators

How pollinator value is scored →
❧ Caterpillar hosts ~9 caterpillar species

Cicuta supports ~9 caterpillar species.

Native butterfly & moth caterpillars are the base of the terrestrial food web — most songbirds rear their young almost entirely on them. As a host for native Lepidoptera this is a modest genus.

Recorded feeding on Cicuta in North America, including:

Agonopterix clemensella · concealer moth Archips argyrospila · Fruit-Tree Leafroller Moth Archips mortuana · leafroller moth Depressaria angustati · concealer moth Depressaria cinereocostella · concealer moth Depressaria daucella · concealer moth
+ 6 more species →
Depressaria juliella · concealer moth Epermenia cicutaella Eupithecia tripunctaria · White-Spotted Pug Papaipema birdi · Umbellifer Borer Papilio polyxenes · Black Swallowtail Papilio zelicaon · Anise Swallowtail
Keystone count (genus-level) from Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use records. Named species (a documented Nearctic sample, not exhaustive) from NHM HOSTS (CC0).
Species thumbnails re-hosted from iNaturalist — Creative Commons, credited per image (hover for credit). Click any species to see it on iNaturalist. Not exhaustive; many taxa have no openly-licensed photo yet.
Sources for this entry (13) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[05] Invasive / introduced status — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — native status
[06] Description — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
[07] Ecological value — Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[08] Conservation rank — NatureServe Explorer (CC BY)
[09] Cold hardiness (derived) — Derived from U.S. range × USDA PHZM zones
[11] Caterpillar host count — Warren II 2026 (Dryad, CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[12] Caterpillar species — NHM HOSTS (CC0)
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PlantKey’s data is open under CC BY-SA 4.0 — free to reuse and adapt, with attribution and the same licence. Photos keep their own per-image licence + credit (see Sources above).

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