Hemlock Water Dropwort

Hemlock Water Droplet is a common plant and is native to the UK also known as dead man’s fingers. Though not poisonous to the touch, it is highly toxic to humans and dogs if eaten.

Contact with the sap can also cause a rash and blistering. It grows in damp conditions at waterside and riverbank locations and can grow in huge colonies. The plant provides a great source of food for bees and other pollinating insects.

Hemlock is a tall, upright plant, usually 1.5 to 2.5 metres (5 to 8 feet) and can be distinguished by its distinctive and unpleasant smell of its foliage and its purple spotted stems. Its leaves are finely divided and large, with its flowers small, which can be white or cream that appear in umbrella like clusters in June and July.

The plant is biennial, as it has a lifecycle spread over two years: produces vegetative growth (leaves, stems, roots) in the first year and reproductive growth (flowers and seeds) in the second year of their life. The seeds can lay dormant and remain viable for three to five years.

It is very similar and easily confused with cow parsley, water parsnip and water celery and it should not be foraged or consumed.

If you would like to report Hemlock, please email parks@hastings.gov.uk