Heracleum maximum
W.Bartram · speciesAt a glance
Sources12 archives
Databases and archives Heracleum maximum's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation8 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility41 702 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI17 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics30 specimens↗
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
NPASSNat. Product Activity & Species Sourcecompounds↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
giftgenome & karyotype
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Heracleum maximum, commonly known as cow parsnip, is the only member of the genus Heracleum native to North America. It is also known as American cow-parsnip, Satan celery, Indian celery, Indian rhubarb or pushki. It is sometimes referred to as Heracleum lanatum (or H. lanatum var. asiaticum), which is regarded as a synonym. The genus name Heracleum (from "Heracles") refers to the very large size of all parts of these plants.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology6
Life cycle & reproduction27
Diet & foraging1
Habitat & environment25
Physiology & chemistry20
Uses & economy15
Other traits4
Compounds documented for Heracleum maximum across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
Compound class profile5 classes
Documented compounds23 total
| Compound | Class | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-Propenoic acid, 3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-, 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethyl ester, (E)-; 4-Hydroxyphenethyl trans-ferulate | present | LOTUS | |
| 2H-Furo(2,3-h)-1-benzopyran-2-one, 8,9-dihydro-9-hydroxy-8-(1-hydroxy-1-methylethyl)- | present | LOTUS | |
| 3-(4-Hydroxy-3-Methoxyphenyl)Prop-2-Enoic Acid | present | LOTUS | |
| 4-(2,3-Dihydroxy-3-methylbutoxy)furo(3,2-g)chromen-7-one | present | LOTUS | |
| 4-Coumaric acid | present | LOTUS | |
| 7-Isopent-enyloxycoumarin | present | LOTUS | |
| 7-Prenyloxycoumarin | present | LOTUS | |
| 9-Hydroxy-8-[2-[3,4,5-trihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)oxan-2-yl]oxypropan-2-yl]-8,9-dihydrofuro[2,3-h]chromen-2-one | present | LOTUS | |
| Apterin | present | LOTUS | |
| Bergapten | present | LOTUS |
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Heracleum maximum has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
The complete instruction manual Heracleum maximum carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
2n 228×CCDB · book-ipcn66 · CCDB · book-ipcn67-71 · CCDB · book-fedorov +1
n 113×CCDB · ipcn-api-dl · CCDB · book-ipcn72 · CCDB · book-ipcn67-71
diploid1×GIFT · GIFT (floras)
diploid inferred1×PloiDB · genus-scale
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
Record type41 702 records
Origin
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions77 of 128 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| Université Lavallocation not on record | 155 |
| Philadelphia, US | 93 |
| Corvallis, US | 85 |
| Québec, CA | 83 |
| Montréal, CA | 83 |
| Wuzhou, CN | 77 |
| Claremont, US | 63 |
| Arcata, US | 56 |
| Denver, US | 49 |
| Ann Arbor, US | 48 |
| Davis, US | 44 |
| Bloomington, US | 42 |
| Missoula, US | 37 |
| Acadia Universitylocation not on record | 35 |
| Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record | 35 |
| Riverside, US | 35 |
| Saint John, CA | 33 |
| Burlington, US | 32 |
| Albuquerque, US | 27 |
| Allentown, US | 26 |
| DOI/NPS, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Sitelocation not on record | 26 |
| Boise, US | 26 |
| Pocatello, US | 23 |
| University of New Hampshirelocation not on record | 22 |
| Trois-Rivières, CA | 22 |
| WTUlocation not on record | 21 |
| Moscow State Universitylocation not on record | 20 |
| Green Bay, US | 17 |
| Vancouver, CA | 17 |
| University of Stellenboschlocation not on record | 17 |
| Dekalb, US | 15 |
| Moscow, US | 15 |
| Chongqing Museumlocation not on record | 14 |
| US | 14 |
| Victoria, CA | 13 |
| New Haven, US | 12 |
| Saint Louis, US | 12 |
| Madison, US | 12 |
| Portland, US | 10 |
| San Diego, US | 9 |
| Museum of the Rockieslocation not on record | 9 |
| Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratorylocation not on record | 8 |
| Tacoma, US | 8 |
| Santa Barbara, US | 8 |
| Truckee, US | 8 |
| Ashland, US | 8 |
| Appalachian State Universitylocation not on record | 8 |
| Pittsburg, US | 7 |
| Chicago, US | 7 |
| Flagstaff, US | 7 |
| Bronx, US | 7 |
| Anchorage, US | 7 |
| San Luis Obispo, US | 7 |
| Lincoln, US | 6 |
| DOI/NPS, Mount Rainier National Parklocation not on record | 6 |
| Science Museum of Minnesotalocation not on record | 6 |
| Toronto, CA | 6 |
| Portland, US | 5 |
| Cheney, US | 5 |
| Pullman, US | 5 |
| Durango, US | 4 |
| ASUlocation not on record | 4 |
| Montréal, CA | 4 |
| McWane Science Centerlocation not on record | 3 |
| Millersville, US | 3 |
| Whitehorse, CA | 3 |
| University of Guelph, OAC Herbariumlocation not on record | 3 |
| Musee des Dinosaures d'Esperaza (Aude)location not on record | 3 |
| Northridge, US | 3 |
| University of British Columbia, Herbariumlocation not on record | 3 |
| Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicachlocation not on record | 3 |
| College Park, US | 3 |
| Provo, US | 3 |
| Keene State Universitylocation not on record | 3 |
| Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record | 3 |
| IDElocation not on record | 3 |
| Waverly, US | 3 |
| Provincia di Livornolocation not on record | 2 |
| IWEP FEB RASlocation not on record | 2 |
| Weber State Universitylocation not on record | 2 |
| Western Carolina Universitylocation not on record | 2 |
| Canadian Department of Agriculturelocation not on record | 2 |
| CASlocation not on record | 2 |
| INFlocation not on record | 2 |
| San Jose, US | 2 |
| St. Paul, US | 2 |
| Chicago, US | 2 |
| Mohonk Preservelocation not on record | 2 |
| Research Collection of B. A. Bennettlocation not on record | 2 |
| University of Alberta Museumslocation not on record | 2 |
| Institute of the biological problems of the North FEB RASlocation not on record | 2 |
| Columbia, US | 2 |
| STNFlocation not on record | 1 |
| USFSlocation not on record | 1 |
| Bureau of Land Management, Medford District Officelocation not on record | 1 |
| Williamsburg, US | 1 |
| Edinburgh, GB | 1 |
| Oswego, US | 1 |
| Severin-McDaniel Insect Collectionlocation not on record | 1 |
| Paris, FR | 1 |
| Austin, US | 1 |
| Xian, CN | 1 |
| KNFSClocation not on record | 1 |
| Elikins, US | 1 |
| Logan, US | 1 |
| University of Southern Mississippilocation not on record | 1 |
| James F. Matthews Center for Biodiversity Studieslocation not on record | 1 |
| Ensenada, MX | 1 |
| Bangkok, TH | 1 |
| Royal Alberta Museumlocation not on record | 1 |
| DOI/NPS, San Juan Island National Historical Parklocation not on record | 1 |
| Morgantown, US | 1 |
| Royal British Columbia Museumlocation not on record | 1 |
| Long Beach, US | 1 |
| KNFHClocation not on record | 1 |
| Maryland Department of Natural Resourceslocation not on record | 1 |
| Tempe, US | 1 |
| San Jose State University, Museum of Birds and Mammalslocation not on record | 1 |
| Caldwell, US | 1 |
| Harrisonburg, US | 1 |
| Universite de Montreal, L'Herbier Marie-Victorinlocation not on record | 1 |
| Research Collection of Jonathan Farrlocation not on record | 1 |
| University of South Dakotalocation not on record | 1 |
| FLASlocation not on record | 1 |
| Chapel Hill, US | 1 |
| Bothell, US | 1 |
| Cambridge, US | 1 |
| EL PASO, US | 1 |
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Where the DNA of Heracleum maximum was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.