What is "cicuta maculata"

Musquash \Mus"quash\, n. [American Indian name.] (Zo["o]l.) See Muskrat.

Musquash root (Bot.), an umbelliferous plant ( Cicuta maculata), having a poisonous root. See Water hemlock.

Cowbane \Cow"bane`\ (kou"b[=a]n`), n. (Bot.) A poisonous umbelliferous plant; in England, the Cicuta virosa; in the United States, the Cicuta maculata and the Archemora rigida. See Water hemlock.

Hemlock \Hem"lock\, n. [OE. hemeluc, humloc, AS. hemlic, hymlic.]

1. (Bot.) The name of several poisonous umbelliferous herbs having finely cut leaves and small white flowers, as the Cicuta maculata, Cicuta bulbifera, and Cicuta virosa, and the Conium maculatum. See Conium.

   Note: The potion of hemlock administered to Socrates is by some thought to have been a decoction of Cicuta virosa, or water hemlock, by others, of Conium maculatum.

2. (Bot.) An evergreen tree common in North America ( Abies Canadensis or Tsuga Canadensis); hemlock spruce.

   The murmuring pines and the hemlocks.
   --Longfellow.

3. The wood or timber of the hemlock tree.

   Ground hemlock, or Dwarf hemlock. See under Ground.

Cicuta maculata is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family known by several common names, including spotted water hemlock, spotted parsley, spotted cowbane, and the suicide root by the Iroquois. It is native to nearly all of North America, from northern Canada to southern Mexico. This is a rhizomatous perennial herb producing a hollow erect stem to a maximum height between 1 and 1.5 meters. The long leaves are made up of several lance-shaped, pointed, serrated leaflets. Each shiny green leaflet is 2 to 10 centimeters long and the entire leaf may be up to 40 centimeters long. The inflorescence of white flowers is similar in appearance to many other species in the carrot family. It is a compound umbel with a many clusters of flowers. The dry tan-brown fruit is a few millimeters long.