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poison parsley

poison parsley

9.9
A tall plant with fernlike leaves and white flowers that can make animals or people very ill
  • noun
translation icon : perejil venenoso
  • Mistaking poison parsley for an edible herb can have fatal consequences.

Examples

  • The children were warned to stay away from the poison parsley growing along the riverbank.

  • Farmers removed poison parsley from their fields to protect their livestock.

  • The garden was overrun with poison parsley.

  • Don't touch that poison parsley!

  • Farmers removed poison parsley from their fields to protect their livestock.

  • Mistaking poison parsley for an edible herb can have fatal consequences.

  • The children were warned to stay away from the poison parsley growing along the riverbank.

Synonyms

hemlock
vspoison parsley
1 8.8

A tall poisonous plant with fern-like leaves and clusters of white flowers

is similar but focuses more on damp habitat and full plant toxicity
Conium maculatum
vspoison parsley
  • Specialized
9.9

A very poisonous European and African plant with fernlike leaves and white flower clusters in damp places

is the common, nontechnical name used instead of the scientific term
Nebraska fern
vspoison parsley
  • Specialized
9.9

A plant with large fern-like leaves that is very poisonous and grows in wet places

is similar but described without stressing its damp habitat preference
winter fern
vspoison parsley
9.8

A large plant with leaves like a fern and white flowers with all parts very poisonous

is the same plant but referred to by a different common name
California fern
vspoison parsley
  • US
9.9

A large plant with leaves like a fern, small white flowers, and all parts very poisonous if eaten

is the same plant but usually described by its damp habitat and toxicity

How Toxic

poison parsley
9.9

Surface Forms

Morphology

poison + parsley

The compound is directly compositional: 'poison' modifies 'parsley', indicating a parsley-like plant that is poisonous, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it denotes a toxic herb/plant. This follows common noun + noun compounding patterns (e.g. 'poison ivy', 'poison oak') and is cross-linguistically transparent, making the meaning accessible to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Poison parsley gets its name because the plant looks like the common herb parsley but is actually poison. Imagine picking what you think is an 'edible' herb and finding it 'poisonous', so the name warns people to stay away.