common cow parsnip

''Heracleum maximum'', cow parsnip is the only member of the genus ''Heracleum'' native to North America. Its classification has caused some difficulty, with recent authoritative sources referring to it variously as ''Heracleum maximum'' or ''Heracleum lanatum '', as ''H. linatum'', or as either a subspecies, ''H. sphondylium'' subsp. ''montanum'', or a variety, ''H. sphondylium'' var. ''linatum'', of the common hogweed . The classification given here follows ITIS.