Wildflower (forb) · Apiaceae
Common cowparsnip
Heracleum maximum
Common cowparsnip is recorded as native to 39 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 765 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Common cowparsnip at a glance
- Native in
- 765 counties, across 39 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 8 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −38°F; zone 3b winters bottom out at −35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Common cowparsnip is recorded as native to 39 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 765 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 765 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alaska 22 counties
- Arizona 4 counties
- California 34 counties
- Colorado 27 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- Idaho 19 counties
- Illinois 55 counties
- Indiana 17 counties
- Iowa 18 counties
- Kansas 1 county
- Kentucky 6 counties
- Maine 13 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 36 counties
- Minnesota 58 counties
- Missouri 19 counties
- Montana 25 counties
- Nebraska 7 counties
- Nevada 5 counties
- New Hampshire 7 counties
- New Jersey 10 counties
- New Mexico 7 counties
- New York 27 counties
- North Carolina 10 counties
- North Dakota 34 counties
- Ohio 40 counties
- Oregon 34 counties
- Pennsylvania 38 counties
- Rhode Island 3 counties
- South Dakota 9 counties
- Tennessee 7 counties
- Utah 17 counties
- Vermont 11 counties
- Virginia 25 counties
- Washington 27 counties
- West Virginia 13 counties
- Wisconsin 47 counties
- Wyoming 18 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 8 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Multiple Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 14 to 45 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 5.4 to 7.3
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 12 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −38°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 110
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Early Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- Slight
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Apiaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- HEMA80
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Heracleum maximum (PLANTS symbol HEMA80).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources