Heracleum nipponicum
is a perennial herb occurring in damp places on riversides;
stems are thick, hollow, hairy, erect, and branch at the upper
parts. Leaves are of a ternate compound or mono-pinnate compound
leaf; leaflets are cleft, shallow or intermediate, with margins
coarsely serrated. Petioles swell at bases as if enclosed in
sheaths. Stem or branch tips create prominently large compound
umbels that grow to 20cm in diameter. Flowers, 5-petaled, are white;
the petals in the peripheral part of flowers are different in shape
from those in the central portion - one of the outers is
significantly large and cleft in two. Bloom time: May-June. |