Apiaceae (alienae)

The parsley family in Belgium:
The Apiaceae (parsley family) occur worldwide with a clear focal point in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, where they are present in different habitats. They are mainly herbaceous plants. Quite characteristic for this family are the composite leaves and the flowers grouped together into umbels, to which they thank their alternative family name: Latin Umbelliferae literally means “umbrella bearers”. The individual flowers are mostly coloured but relatively small and unshowy. Many species are used by people, not because of their beauty but their pleasant taste as spices or vegetables, e.g. parsley (Petroselinum crispum), carrot (Daucus carota), and fennel (Foeniculum vulgare). Not all of them are however edible: some species rank amongst the most toxic plants in our region – e.g. hemlock (Conium maculatum) and cowbane (Cicuta virosa)! For the untrained eye, many edible and toxic plants look quite similar, specially when they bear no flowers.
In this project, we will focus on the exotic Apiaceae, i.e. plants which naturally occur elsewhere but were introduced here by man and nowadays occur spontaneously in our region as well. Some of them are rare and you find them only locally, others adapted so well that they spread all over – often in the absence of natural enemies – and since have a negative impact on our native biodiversity, our health, sometimes even on our economy. We name such species invasive. Within the Apiaceae, giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) is a typical example hereof. Thanks to its long seed vitality (up to 7 years), its dimensions (up to 3 m high), and its large beshadowing leaves, this species managed to conquer several habitats where it hinders the development of the native herbaceous vegetation. Furthermore, contact with the sap may lead to serious skin inflammation. Meise Botanic Garden is currently a partner in a research project that tries to predict the spread of new weeds and based on such information suggests policies and management directives that should stop the advance of species such as giant hogweed. By participating in this project, you will thus be contributing to this pertinent ecological research!

The Belgian Herbarium:
The Botanic Garden Meise holds the largest herbarium collection of Belgian plant specimens. Each of these herbarium specimens has a label with valuable information such as the plant’s identification, and when, where, and who collected the plant. These specimens can be used in many domains of research, such as conservation, evolution, ecology and systematics. These data help us to better understand the plants of Belgium, their history and that of people who collected them. There are about 200,000 specimens in the Belgian Herbarium of the Botanic Garden Meise and we want to document them all! These data will then be made available online at www.botanicalcollections.be.

Keywords (Latin):
Belgium, Apiaceae, Alienae, Hortus Botanicus Meise, Botanica.