Pimpinella major, (L.) Hudson

13. P. major (L.) Hudson View in CoL , Fl. Angl. 110 (1762)

( P. magna L. ).

Glabrous or rarely puberulent perennial up to 100 cm. Stock at flowering time with non-flowering rosettes. Stem deeply sulcate (very rarely terete), hollow, branched above. Lower leaves l(-3)- pinnate with 3-9 segments; segments up to 100 mm, ovate or oblong, dentate, rarely pinnatisect; cauline leaves smaller, with inflated, sheath-like petioles with membranous margins. Rays 10-25, slender. Bracts absent; bracteoles usually absent, rarely few, caducous. Petals white to deep pink. Fruit 2-5-3-5 mm, ovoid-oblong; ridges prominent, whitish. 2« = 20. Most of Europe except the extreme north and south and S. & E. Russia. Au Be Br Bu Cz Da Ga Ge Hb He Ho Hs Hu It Ju No Po Rm Rs (N, B, C, W) Su [Fe].

Very variable in height, degree of dissection of the leaves and colour of flowers. A number of subspecies have been described but the correlation between the characters differentiating these does not appear to be very good. Perhaps the most distinct of the taxa is var. rubra (Hoppe) Fiori & Béguinot in Fiori & Paol., FI. Anal. Ital. 2: 163 (1900), which occurs on the higher mountains of C. Europe. It has short stems and very deep pink flowers, but plants with the same flower colour and up to 100 cm high are found in the W. Carpathians and S.C. France; these seem to intergrade with normal P. major . Plants with greatly dissected leaves are common in the eastern part of the range of the species, but occur sporadically elsewhere.