page_title: Thapsia villosa
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Thapsia villosa / Description
caption_attribution_description: Thapsia villosa stem and leaves Puertollano, May, 24 , 2008.
context_page_description: Thapsia villosa, commonly known as the villous deadly carrot, is a species of poisonous herbaceous plants in the genus Thapsia. It grows to about 70 to 190 cm in height. It has pinnate hairy leaves with sheath-like petioles. The flowers are yellow in color and borne on compound umbels. They develop into fruits with four wings characteristic of the genus. It is native to southwestern Europe and northwestern Africa surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. The plant was used extensively for traditional medicine since around the 3rd century BC.
context_section_description: Thapsia villosa is a perennial herb growing to a height of 70 to 190 cm (28 to 75 in). It has a robust and smooth tapering stem about 5 to 25 mm (0.20 to 0.98 in) in diameter, arising from a thick root resembling a white carrot or turnip.
  The leaves, like the name of the species suggests, are hairy. The leaves around the base of the stem have well-developed sheath-like petioles about 20 to 80 mm (0.79 to 3.15 in) wide. Like the leaves, they are also hairy. They are whitish, yellowish, green, or (rarely) purple in color. The leaf blades are triangular to deltoid in shape and are pinnate, subdivided once to thrice. The last leaflet subdivision is usually about 8 to 32 mm (0.31 to 1.26 in) wide in T. villosa var. villosa; while they are only about 1.5 to 3 mm (0.059 to 0.118 in) wide in T. villosa var. dissecta. The margins of the leaves are curled (revolute) with small teeth-like and triangular serrated edges, each tipped with small spike. The main leaf midrib (rachis) is densely covered in hair and light to dark green on the upper side, while it is smooth and grayish to greenish on the underside. The leaves are largest at the bottom and progressively become smaller the higher they are on the stem. In the upper parts of the stem, the leaves are often reduced to nothing more than petioles which form sheaths around the stem.
  Like other members of the genus, the inflorescence of Thapsia villosa is a compound subhemispherical to globose umbel. It has 9 to 29 spokes and is about 6 to 12 cm (2.4 to 4.7 in) in diameter. Bracts are usually absent, though in rare cases, one to three may be present, each around 6 to 40 mm (0.24 to 1.57 in) in length and lanceolate in shape. The umbellules are hemispherical to globose. Bracteoles are also usually absent, though rarely 1 or 2 may be present. Each umbellule has about 18 to 43 flowers, each with five bright yellow elliptical petals. The fruits are oblong and around 9 to 15 mm (0.35 to 0.59 in) long and 6 to 11 mm (0.24 to 0.43 in) wide. When mature, they are light to dark brown in color with four yellowish to brownish wings characteristic of the genus. The main umbel has hermaphroditic flowers, containing both stamen and pistil. Smaller umbels may develop from the sides of the stem which usually contains only stamens. These umbels wither away quickly.
  Thapsia villosa is highly variable in morphology. The two varieties, T. villosa var. dissecta and T. villosa var. villosa are usually distinguished by how many times the leaf subdivides into leaflets. T. villosa var. dissecta has leaves that are deeply subdivided two or three times into narrow and small leaflets. T. villosa var. villosa, in contrast are usually subdivided only once or twice. However, there are numerous intermediate forms between the two varieties and distinguishing between them can be very difficult. The diploid chromosome number (2n) of Thapsia villosa is 22, 33, 44, or 66.
caption: Pinnate leaves and sheath-like petioles of T. villosa
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