Heracleum Sphondylium – Cow Parsnip and its Hidden Benefits

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Heracleum Sphondylium is the scientific name of a plant family belonging to the genus Heracleum Maximum. Its genus reflects the fact that all parts including the leaves, the stem, and the flowers are of enormous size.

It is a herbaceous plant that is biennial in nature and belongs to the umbelliferous family. While the genus of the plant is named after Greek hero Hercules, its species name is Sphondylium that means vertebrate or having a segmented stem. Heracleum Sphondylium is the botanical name but this plant which is found all over Europe and North America on the road verges. It is commonly known as hogweed, cow parsnip, or simply common hogweed.

The reason why it is called hogweed is because of its use as fodder for pigs. It loves to grow quickly in most places and mountainous regions in nitrogen-rich soil. It is commonly used for manufacturing food supplements that can be taken without a prescription as an aid for fertility and impotence conditions.

Heracleum Sphondylium characteristics

This plant can be seen growing along the roadside and in the ditches with home garden owners scurrying to remove this plant as soon as they see it growing inside their gardens. This is because of the ability of sap of this plant to cause an allergic reaction such as rashes and blisters on human skin. Also, the fact that this plant grows quickly and towers over other plants in the garden makes people go for its removal.

Heracleum Sphondylium

However, hogweed is a very good herbaceous plant to have in your garden if only to cover empty places. Its large leaves and flowers become a centre of attraction in your garden. Its flowers are in the form of a flower bed that is flattened at the top. There are many flower heads in this flower bed and each head is made up of several tiny white flowers, each containing 5 petals. You will find the flowers of this plant attracting lots of bees and butterflies because of a nasty scent that they produce. A single stick of the flower bed of this plant is enough to spread a vanilla-like fragrance in your room if you keep it in a vase.

 

In many parts of the world, Heracleum Sphondylium is considered a natural aphrodisiac. The leaves and roots of the plant are converted into a tincture form that is used to treat various sexual problems. Many companies sell tablets made from the extract of this plant that is used by people to boost their sexual energy. In Romania, the extract of this plant is used pretty much like ginseng which is a very common herb used for strength and vitality.

Aerial parts of this plant are used to make a tincture that is used for the treatment of general debility. As the sap of this plant can cause burns or rashes on the skin, you must take care when trimming or cutting the stem. Also, do not use the plant for medicinal purposes if you are not sure about its identity. It is a good idea to have your plant checked by the experts before trying its parts for medicinal purposes.

Giant Hogweed Heracleum Mantegazzianum confusion

The plant is commonly used in Eastern Europe in manufacturing natural extracts such as capsules and tinctures. It is one of the most popular plants used since antiquity as an aid in treating a large number of problems, most of them connected with impotence and lack of sexual appetite.

Cow Parsley is a beneficial plant used for tinctures and capsules designed to improve the general wellbeing of the body. The young shoots of the plant look like a common flower, but they grow really fast and can reach heights of 2 meters and more.

It is known as a natural aphrodisiac and has blood vessels dilating effect. People use Heracleum Sphondylium extracts to treat anxiety, infertility, and even as an aid for treating STD’s.

In the UK, people can buy this product from Naturemedies, and it can be taken without a prescription. Even if the product is most popular with Eastern European customers, UK consumers started to understand the benefits of Heracleum Sphondylium and to buy this product online with trust.

Make sure to consult your GP before taking any food supplements. Do not replace any medical treatment with Branca Ursului or other plant extracts. Even if the products we promote are less known in the UK, people from other parts of the world use them for a while in treating medical conditions.

Myth and Legends about Cow Parsnip – Indian Celery in UK

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Have you heard stories about people getting blisters from the sap of a plant called Cow Parsnip and being afraid whenever they see it along the roadside? Many people are scared of this plant growing in their gardens, as they consider it as a being a dangerous weed. However, even though many relatives of the family to which Cow Parsnip belongs to are poisonous, Common Cow Parsnip or Indian celery is a completely safe plant to grow in your garden, especially for its importance as a natural remedy in the UK. It is a biennial plant that grows very quickly and towers all other plants around it. If you have one in your garden, you must keep an eye on it and cut it often, as it can grow tall and strong.

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Cow Parsnip is or Wild Parsnip is often mistaken with its dangerous ‘cousin’, which is giant hogweed heracleum mantegazzianum. The flower cluster of this plant might cause skin irritation, but the common hogweed must not cause this skin reaction in any case.

The common Cow Parsnip belongs to a genus called Heracleum Maximum that comes from the word Hercules. This reflects the size of this plant. Not only this plant grows up to a great height (nearly 7-8 feet), but it also has very large leaves (16X12 inches). The flowers of this biennial plant are also very large, with a flowerbed consisting of many umbels that are themselves made up of several tiny white flowers. These flowerbeds attract butterflies and ladybugs in your garden and they also leave behind a sweet vanilla fragrance.

 

Where can you find Cow Parsnip in the UK?

Cow Parsnip is also sometimes referred to as hogweed. It is a plant that grows commonly across the UK. You probably have seen it on the side of the road while driving in the humid areas of Scotland, but it is also common in other parts of the UK. You also see this plant growing across borders of fields and on close top ditches. This plant grows pretty quickly and loves to have some room and spoil, which for Hogweed, is moisture.

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One scary feature of this plant is its hairy stalk that is also ridged. It is interesting to note that in early times, natives ate Cow Parsnip after peeling its stalks. If you see an unusual swelling along the stem, there is nothing to worry as it is a bud that will convert into a flower bed when the time comes. These swollen regions can sometimes become as large as an orange before bursting out, becoming a flowerbed. The flowerbed is flattened at the top and looks like a compound umbel. The flowers of Cow Parsnip look similar to those found in the carrot family of plants.

 

Every single umbel in a flowerbed consists of lots of tiny white flowers. Each of these flowers is made up of 5 petals. You can pick off one of the umbels through the stem and place it in a vase to see the beauty of these white flowers, besides getting the fragrance of vanilla in your room. It is not just the flowers but also the large leaves of Cow Parsnip that make it a centre of attraction.

If you consider taking food supplements extracted from this plant, please consult your doctor even if it is a food supplement. Naturemedies products are not designed to cure or treat any disease, and they do not replace any medical treatment.

Our food supplements are safe to taken and usually without any side effects. However, please consult your doctor immediately if you feel unwell after taking any kind of plant extracts.

Cow Parsnip: Why It Has Such A Bad Name – Difference from Giant Hogweed

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Cow Parsnip is a name used for more than 60 species of perennial plants belonging to the genus Heracleum. This flowering plant is native e to North America and garden owners consider it a weed as it is invasive in nature and grows very quickly to tower other plants. One of the most known species of Cow Parsnip is the Giant Hogweed. It is important to know what makes the difference and why cow parsnip vs giant hogweed is not the same thing.

It is really a tall herb that can grow to a height of up to 7 feet. The fact that all parts of this plant including the leaves, the stem, and the flowers are big is reflected in the name of its genus that comes from Hercules. Giant Hogweed is different from the common Cow Parsnip (Indian Celery), which is used for making traditional food supplements.

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Cow Parsnip vs Giant Hogweed: What we should know

Giant Hogweed is a plant known for its ability to cause blistering and irritation on the human skin. It is because of this ability of this plant that most garden owners consider it as a weed and try to get rid of it as soon as they see it inside their gardens.

However, Cow Parsnip or hogweed, as it is also known as, is not a weed but a plant that normally grows along the roadside or in drainage ditches. It is rarely seen growing inside nurseries as a weed. The fact that there are many related plants with Cow Parsnip that scare people when they identify it in their gardens.

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The visible characteristic of this perennial plant is its large flower head that looks like an umbrella consisting of lots of tiny white flowers. You can easily cut off one of these flower heads and place it inside a vase in your room as this flower head has the sweet smell of vanilla. These flower heads are a source of attraction not only for ladybugs but also for butterflies. You can let this plant to grow in your garden if there are no butterflies in your garden and you are desirous of seeing them.

Cow Parsnip vs Giant Hogweed: Differences

The lifecycle of Cow Parsnip is small and the plant lasts for only two years. But the good thing about this plant is that it reseeds itself and quickly and grows even before even the parent plant has died. If you are looking to fill up a corner of your garden, you can safely choose Cow Parsnip. The leaves of this plant are huge by any standards as they can be more than 15 inches long and more than 12 inches wide. Every leaf is actually a group of three leaves with 2 basal leaflets and one terminal leaflet. Margins of the leaves are lobed and serrated.

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What looks scary to many people is the very hairy stalk of Cow Parsnip. It is also a little bit ridged besides being hirsute. Another mysterious feature of Cow Parsnip happens to be its buds that seen in the shape of swellings on its stem. These swellings are at times as big as the size of an orange. When this bud finally gets converted into a flower, it is seen in the form of a compound umbel. Each of the umbel contains several tiny white flowers.

While Giant Hogweed is poisonous and hust be avoided, cow parsnip or branca ursului extracts can be used as natural viagra and as food supplements. Many people consider those as the cheal viagra you can buy as natural remedy. As long as you consider it a food supplement and consult your GP, you can be sure of the benefits they will bring to your wellbeing and sexual life.