蛇床 she chuang

Plants annual, 10–60(–80) cm. Taproot 2–3 mm thick. Stem solitary, striate, scabrous. Lower petioles 3–8 cm; blade ovate-lanceolate, 3–8 × 2–5 cm, 2–3-pinnate; ultimate segments linear to linear-lanceolate, 3–10 × 1–1.5 mm, veins and margins scabrous. Umbels 2–3(–5) cm across; bracts 6–10, linear to linear-lanceolate, 2–3 mm, persistent, margins narrowly white membranous, very finely ciliate; rays 8–20(–30), 5–20 mm, unequal; bracteoles 5–9, linear, nearly equal pedicels, margins ciliate; umbellules 15–20-flowered; pedicels 3–5 mm. Calyx teeth obsolete or minute. Stylopodium conic; styles 3–4 times longer than stylopodium. Fruit ovoid, 1.5–3 × 1–2 mm; lateral ribs slightly broader than the dorsal. Seed face plane. Fl. Apr–Jul, fr. Jul–Oct.

Riparian grasslands, field margins. Almost throughout China [India, Korea, Laos, Mongolia, Russia, Vietnam; Europe; adventive in North America].

Lower Taxa

• Cnidium monnieri var. formosanum (Y. Yabe) Kitagawa
• Cnidium monnieri var. monnieri