Botanical atlas

Parsnip

Pastinaca sativa

Parsnip has been cultivated since Roman times, when it was prized as a sweet, starchy root long before the potato ever reached European kitchens. Cooks and healers alike relied on it through the cold months, since a hard frost converts its stored starches to sugar and leaves the root tasting noticeably sweeter after digging. Old European household and herbal traditions also turned to parsnip root as a gentle diuretic and digestive tonic, simmered into broths for those recovering from illness or needing something easy and grounding to eat. It has long been considered a humble but faithful root, the kind that fed families through winters when little else could be pulled from the ground.

Safety.

Parsnip root is a common, safe food, but the leaves, stems, and sap, especially from wild plants, can cause a burning, blistering skin reaction in sunlight, so wear gloves when handling the tops. Wild parsnip can also resemble deadly poison hemlock and water hemlock, so be certain of identification before foraging it.