Heracleum sphondylium is one of five species of
Heracleum described by the Swedish botanist
Carl Linnaeus in 1753 (the other four being
H. alpinum,
H. austriacum,
H. panaces, and
H. sibiricum).
Subspecies Since the morphology of
Heracleum sphondylium is highly variable throughout its range, many
infraspecific taxa have been described. In 1968,
Flora Europaea accepts 8 subspecies in addition to the nominate subspecies. ,
World Flora Online (WFO) and
Plants of the World Online (POWO) accept 18 and 14 subspecies, respectively. Unlike WFO, POWO recognizes subsp.
carpaticum, subsp.
cyclocarpum, and subsp.
sibiricum at species rank, with subsp.
flavescens being a synonym of
Heracleum sibiricum. In 1971,
Brummitt lumped
Heracleum lanatum of North America into subsp.
montanum of Europe. , POWO accepts these taxa as
Heracleum maximum and subsp.
elegans, respectively.
Other infraspecies The marginal flowers of
Heracleum sphondylium subsp.
sphondylium are typically
zygomorphic, that is, the outer petals of the marginal flowers of a secondary umbel are markedly larger, often two or more times as large as the inner petals. In 1846, the German botanist
Wilhelm Ludwig Petermann described an
infraspecies of subsp.
sphondylium that lacks this characteristic. Subsequently, various authors have referred to it as f.
subregulare or var.
subregulare, but the
correct name of the infraspecies is
Heracleum sphondylium var.
subregulare The epithet
subregulare means "almost regular", a reference to the atypical marginal flowers of the variety. In 1961, the Polish botanist
Maria J. Gawłowska constructed the following taxonomy for
Heracleum sphondylium: •
Heracleum sphondylium var.
sphondylium •
Heracleum sphondylium f.
stenophyllum •
Heracleum sphondylium f.
dissectum •
Heracleum sphondylium f.
subregulare •
Heracleum sphondylium f.
subaequale •
Heracleum sphondylium var.
chaetocarpoides •
Heracleum sphondylium f.
spectabile •
Heracleum sphondylium f.
mirabile •
Heracleum sphondylium f.
intermedium •
Heracleum sphondylium f.
commutatum The typical variety of
Heracleum sphondylium subsp.
sphondylium is there designated as
Heracleum sphondylium var.
sphondylium. It is distinguished from var.
chaetocarpoides by the
pilosity (hairiness) of the
ovary. Each of the listed forms differs from its corresponding variety with respect to
floral symmetry or
leaf morphology, or both. Neither f.
stenophyllum nor f.
dissectum are
validly published names since Gawłowska did not properly specify the
basionym in each case. The name f.
subregulare is not a correct name (see above). The remaining names are validly published. According to
Plants of the World Online, each of the names in the previous list is a
synonym for
Heracleum sphondylium subsp.
sphondylium. Based on Gawłowska's taxonomy, var.
sphondylium (along with each of its four forms) has an ovary overgrown with soft, blunt, spreading hairs whereas the ovary of var.
chaetocarpoides (and each of its four forms) has short, stiff, ascending hairs with pointy tips. The hairs of var.
chaetocarpoides may be so short, they may not be visible to the naked eye. Half of the forms lack the typical floral symmetry of the other forms. Similar to Petermann's
subregulare, the marginal flowers of f.
subaequale, f.
intermedium, and f.
commutatum are nearly
actinomorphic, that is, the outer petals of the marginal flowers of a secondary umbel are only slightly enlarged, and either slightly incised at the apex or not incised at all. Only var.
chaetocarpoides and its form f.
intermedium were found to be common in Poland in 1961. , other
infraspecific names are in use:
Etymology The species name
sphondylium, meaning "vertebrate" (from
Greek σπόνδυλος,
spondylos 'vertebra') refers to the shape of the segmented stem. ==Distribution and habitat==