Apium nodiflorum

Apium nodiflorum (synonym: Helosciadium nodiflorum), fool's watercress, is a flowering plant found in ditches or streams and native to western Europe.

Fool's-water-cress
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Apiales
Family: Apiaceae
Genus: Apium
Species:
A. nodiflorum
Binomial name
Apium nodiflorum

It is not poisonous to humans but it could be easily confused with the allegedly poisonous lesser water parsnip.

Description

A low-growing or prostrate hairless perennial up to 1 m tall, with a thick, hollow, faintly ridged stem which, when lying down (procumbent) produces roots at the nodes. It has glossy pinnate leaves, each of which has 4-6 opposite pairs of toothed, oval to lanceolate leaflets that are slightly paler green on the undersides. There are ridges at the nodes of the leaflets which are often paler than the rhachis and look like rings. (Note, this is different from lesser water-parsnip, which has a ring on the petiole.) The petioles are hollow with a distinctive single groove on upper surface, and may be streaked with red/purple lines; they are laterally inflated towards the base and clasp the stem.[1]

Close up of umbel flowers.

The crushed leaves smell of carrot.

Taxonomy

In 2010 a taxonomic revision demonstrated that the genus Apium was polyphyletic and needed to be split into three genera. Five of the 7 European species of Apium were therefore moved to the genus Helosciadium, as had first been proposed by Wilhelm Koch in 1824. Apium nodiflorum was among them, and is therefore now correctly called Helosciadium nodiflorum W.D.J. Koch.[2]

The genus is noted for the high rate of hybridization between its species, and the following hybrids have been described:

Distribution

It is common throughout England, Wales and Ireland but is much less so in Scotland.[7]

Ecology

Often grows with watercress in wet places.

It blooms in July and August and is found in wet habitats including ditches, springs, fens and ponds. [8][9]

Uses

Wild fool’s watercress has been traditionally harvested and consumed in several Mediterranean countries, including Spain, Italy, Portugal and Morocco[10] The edible young leaves and tender shoots can be used raw in salads, boiled, or used as a condiment in soups and other dishes. [11][12]

References
  1. Rose, Francis (2006). The Wild Flower Key. London: Frederick Warne. ISBN 978-0-7232-5175-0.
  2. Ronse, A.; Popper, Z.A.; Preston, J.C.; Watson, M.F. (2010). "Taxonomic revision of European Apium L. s.l.: Helosciadium W.D.J.Koch restored". Plant Systematics and Evolution. 287: 1–17. doi:10.1007/s00606-010-0284-3.
  3. Desjardins, Stuart D.; Leslie, Alan C.; Stace, Clive A.; Schwarzacher, Trude; Bailey, John P. (2015). "Intergeneric hybridisation between Berula erecta and Helosciadium nodiflorum (Apiaceae)". Taxon. 64 (4): 784–794. doi:10.12705/644.9. ISSN 1996-8175.
  4. Desjardins, Stuart D. (2016-09-01). "Molecular confirmation of Helosciadium × moorei ( H. inundatum × H. nodiflorum ; Apiaceae) from County Cork, Ireland". New Journal of Botany. 6 (2–3): 90–97. doi:10.1080/20423489.2016.1271294. ISSN 2042-3489. S2CID 90980061.
  5. Desjardins, Stuart D.; Shaw, Andrew G.; Webb, Judith A. (2020-02-26). "Hybridisation and introgression in British Helosciadium (Apiaceae)". British & Irish Botany. 2 (1): 27–42. doi:10.33928/bib.2020.02.027. ISSN 2632-4970.
  6. Rita, Juan; Capó, Miquel; Moragues, Eva; Bota, Josefina; Cursach, Joana (2018-02-01). "Hybridization processes in an introduced subpopulation of an endangered plant: Management strategies to guarantee the conservation of Helosciadium bermejoi (Apiaceae)". Journal for Nature Conservation. 41: 26–34. doi:10.1016/j.jnc.2017.10.006. ISSN 1617-1381.
  7. Apium nodiflorum Peter Llewellyn Wild Flowers of the British Isles, Accessed 2011
  8. Fool's-water-cress Wild flowers of Ireland. Accessed July 2011 Apium nodiflorum Fool's-water-cress]
  9. Apium nodiflorum (Fool's-water-cress)
  10. de Cortes Sanchez-Mata, Maria; Tardio, Javier. Mediterranean Wild Edible Plants: Ethnobotany and Food Composition Tables. Springer. ISBN 978-1-4939-3327-3.
  11. Parada, M; Carrió, E; Vallès, J (2011). "Ethnobotany of food plants in the Alt Empordà region (Catalonia, Iberian Peninsula)" (PDF). Journal of Applied Botany and Food Quality (84): 11–25.
  12. Guarrera, P.M.; Savo, V (2016). "Wild food plants used in traditional vegetable mixtures in Italy". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 185: 202–234.


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