Water Parsnip ~ Bundle of 3 Bare-root
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Current Stock:
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Other Names:
Water Parsley
Latin Name:
Sium Suave
Available November 1, 2026.  Plants ship within 3 weeks of this date, shipped in the order they were received. NOTE: We will wait to ship your order until all your plants become available.
Water Parsnip *

The Water Parsnip (Sium suave) is a moisture-loving native of the carrot family with clusters of long, crisp, sweet white roots — a wetland vegetable that eats much like a carrot or parsnip.2, 4

Offered as a bundle of 3 bare-root plants — see the Planting Guide tab for bare-root handling.

NOTE: Bare-root plants arrive dormant (no leaves) and without soil.

Edible & Medicinal Uses

The plant produces a cluster of fleshy white roots that resemble small parsnips — crunchy and sweet, and delicious used any way you'd use a carrot: eaten raw and whole, shredded into salads and rice bowls, or cooked into soups and stir-fries. The young leaves are sometimes used as a relish. Roots are best harvested in spring and fall (young plants are the tender ones). WARNING: Water Parsnip closely resembles the deadly Water Hemlock and grows in the same wet places, so never wild-harvest it without expert identification — a mistake can be fatal. Because our nursery plants are known and labeled, you can grow and enjoy this one with confidence.1, 4

Ornamental Qualities

An elegant wetland plant, Water Parsnip sends up tall, hollow stalks topped with wide, lacy umbrellas of tiny creamy-white flowers in summer — a magnet for bees, beetles, and butterflies. Its leaves shift form depending on whether it's growing submerged, at the margin, or on land. It's lovely in a pond, ditch, rain garden, or bog edge.1

Environment & Culture

Ecology: Native across North America, Water Parsnip thrives in marshes, wet meadows, ditches, pond margins, and shallow water. Its abundant flowers are excellent forage for a wide range of pollinators, and it provides cover in wetland plantings.1, 2

Culture: The crisp roots are a traditional food of many peoples (Ktunaxa naq̣aṇkam), and the crushed root serves as a pain-relieving poultice for broken limbs. We offer it with respect for that living knowledge and invite support for Indigenous-led restoration through our Charitable Giving page.4

In the Kitchen

Harvest the fleshy root clusters in spring or fall, scrub them, and treat them like carrots: snack on them raw, shred them into a slaw or grain bowl, or simmer them into soups and stir-fries for a sweet, nutty note. (Growing and harvest details are on the Planting Guide tab.)

Attributes

  • Native Range: Across North America; marshes, wet meadows, pond margins1
  • USDA Zones: ~3–93
  • Light: Full sun to part shade1
  • Water: Wet — saturated soil to shallow standing water1
  • Soil: Mucky, wet1
  • Habit: Wetland perennial, 2–6 ft; white flower umbels2
  • Edible: Roots (raw or cooked, carrot-like) — wild-harvest only with expert ID1

References

  1. Wikipedia; Missouri Botanical Garden, Sium suave.
  2. Pojar, J. & MacKinnon, A., Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, 2014.
  3. USDA PLANTS Database, Sium suave.
  4. Moerman, D., Native American Ethnobotany, 1998; Kutenai ethnobotany.

Planting Guide: Water Parsnip (Sium suave) — Bundle of 3 Bare-root

Tip: Grow it in a pond margin, ditch, or bog where its wet feet are happy — and because you're growing a known, labeled plant, you can harvest the sweet roots with confidence.

When Your Plant Arrives

Open the box promptly and keep the roots wet at every step — these wetland plants must not dry out. Set them in a container of water or straight into wet mud or shallow water, and keep them cool and shaded until you plant. If anything looks amiss, please contact customer service within 7 days of delivery and we’ll make it right.

Choosing a Site

Light: Full sun to part shade.

Soil & water: Wet, mucky ground to shallow standing water.

Space: 18–24 in apart.

Planting Steps

Plant plugs in spring into saturated soil or shallow water. Set at the depth they grew, firm, and keep flooded or saturated.

Watering & Care

Establishment: Keep wet at all times.

After establishment: Vigorous in wet ground; needs constant moisture.

Protection

Wildlife: Flowers feed many pollinators; cover in wetland plantings.

Water quality: As with any water-grown food, harvest edible parts only from clean water you would be comfortable eating from — wetland plants take up whatever is in the water.

Harvest Basics

Safety (critical): Water parsnip is a carrot-family plant that grows in the same wet places as water hemlock and poison hemlock — among the deadliest plants in North America, and dangerously easy to confuse with it. Never wild-harvest a wetland carrot-family root without absolutely certain, expert identification; eat only from plants you know for certain, like these.

Season: Fleshy white roots in spring and fall (young plants).

Use: Scrub and eat like carrots — raw, shredded, or cooked into soups and stews; crunchy and sweet.