spotted cowbane

American  

noun

1. a North American water hemlock, Cicuta maculata, of the parsley family, having a purple-mottled stem, white flowers, and deadly poisonous, tuberlike roots.

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Etymology

Origin of spotted cowbane

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

Poison hemlock, spotted cowbane and Jamestown weed are very poisonous.

From Seeds of Michigan Weeds Bulletin 260, Michigan State Agricultural College Experiment Station, Division of Botany, March, 1910 by Beal, W. J. (William James)

Twice or thrice pinnate leaves, toothed like a tenon saw, with conspicuous veins ending in the notches, brand it as the beaver poison, otherwise known as the musquash root and spotted cowbane.

From Some Summer Days in Iowa by Lazell, Frederick John