Pleurospermum austriacum

Pleurospermum austriacum is a robust perennial herb in the Apiaceae family, native to montane and subalpine regions of central and southeastern Europe, where it inhabits damp meadows, tall-herb communities and open woodland clearings. The plant arises from a stout, fleshy taproot and produces a hollow, ridged, glabrous stem 50 to 150 centimetres tall, often suffused with reddish or purplish tints toward the base. The large basal and lower stem leaves are two to three times pinnately divided into broadly ovate, deeply incised segments with toothed margins, giving a fern-like appearance; upper leaves are smaller with conspicuously inflated sheaths. The inflorescence is a large, flat-topped compound umbel up to 15 centimetres across, with numerous prominent, white, lanceolate involucral and involucel bracts that form a distinctive ruff beneath the flowers. The small white flowers have five notched petals. The fruits are broadly ovoid schizocarps about 6 to 8 millimetres long with strongly winged, undulate ribs.