Oxypolis rigidior
species of plant
Oxypolis rigidior, known as cowbane, common water dropwort, stiff cowbane, pig-potato, and Cherokee swamp potato, is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family native to eastern North America. It is a perennial wildflower found in wet habitats. Oxypolis rigidior has been reported as being poisonous to some mammals, but it is also considered edible and safe by some authors.
Description
Oxypolis rigidior is 2–6 foot tall perennial herb of eastern North America. Its leaves are compound, odd-pinnate with 7-11 leaflets, and have variable shape. Umbels of 3 mm white flowers appear August to October. Flat fruits with conspicuous "wings" appear October through November.
The variable leaf shape may make identification challenging. Water hemlock, a related very poisonous species, which sometimes even shares the common name "cowbane", is similar, as is the closely related Savanna cowbane (Oxypolis ternata).
Taxonomy
Two varieties have been described, O. rigidior var.
The public source identifies “Oxypolis rigidior” as species of plant. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Oxypolis, rigidior and species.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 3, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q17134564. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Oxypolis rigidior” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.