Tordylium trachycarpum, Ainsworthia trachycarpa, Cow parsnip,
Hebrew: סלסילה מצויה, Arabic: الطرديلن خشن الثمار

Scientific name:		Tordylium trachycarpum (Boiss.) Al-Eisawi & Jury
Synonym name:		Ainsworthia trachycarpa Boiss.
Common name:		Cow parsnip
Hebrew name:		סלסילה מצויה
Arabic name:		الطرديلن خشن الثمار
Plant Family:		Umbelliferae / Apiaceae, סוככיים

Life form:		Therophyte, annual
stems:		Erect, terete, ridged, densely scabrous, 20-80cm
Leaves:		Alternate, rosette, entire, dissected, pinnate, dentate or serrate, crenulate
Flowers:		Sepals absent. Petals white, radiate, the outer 5-8 mm long, unequally 2-lobed, glabrous. Stamens 1.5 mm long. Styles 0.5 mm; stylopodium conical depressed.
Fruits / pods:		Mericarps 3-6 mm diameter, orbicular with soft, thick margins and covered with vesicular hairs.
Flowering Period:		March, April, May, June
Habitat:		Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:		Mediterranean
Summer shedding:		Ephemeral

Derivation of the botanical name: Tordylium, from tordylon, tordylion Τορδυλιον ancient Greek names for an umbelliferous plant. Ainsworthianamed for Geoffrey Clough Ainsworth (1905–1998), a British mycologist. trachycarpa, trachys, τραχυϛ, "rough, rugged, rocky", carpos, καρποϛ, "fruit"; meaning rough seeded. The Hebrew name: סלסילה, salsila, a small basket, probably a loan word from Akkadian salsilu (= basket). The standard author abbreviation Boiss. is used to indicate Pierre Edmond Boissier (1810 – 1885), a Swiss botanist, explorer and mathematician. The standard author abbreviation Al-Eisawi is used to indicate Dawud al-Eisawi, a professor of botany at the University of Jordan. The standard author abbreviation Jury is used to indicate Dr Stephen Jury , The University of Reading, School of Plant Sciences; UK.