# Texas Prairie Parsley

*Polytaenia texana*

This plant serves as a vital nursery; Eastern Black Swallowtail butterflies search out its leaves to lay their eggs, providing their caterpillars with a perfect first meal.

- **Taxonomy:** Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Apiales › Apiaceae › Polytaenia
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** grassland
- **Habitat:** Blackland prairies, limestone glades, post oak savannahs, and open clay-soil grasslands.
- **Diet:** Autotrophic (photosynthesis)
- **Range:** Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas
- **Size:** 30 to 90 cm (1 to 3 feet) tall
- **Lifespan:** 2-5 years (biennial or short-lived perennial)
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Habitat fragmentation due to agricultural conversion, urban sprawl, and encroachment of invasive woody brush.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless to observe. Avoid crushing the plant or getting its sap on your skin, as some members of the parsley family contain compounds that cause skin sensitivity to sunlight (phytophotodermatitis). If contact with sap occurs, wash the area thoroughly with soap and water and keep it shaded from the sun.

## About

Polytaenia texana , commonly known as Texas prairie parsley , is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family. It is native to the south-western United States (Texas and Oklahoma).

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/846acd82-c6ff-4e1e-ab91-3ac13ec87138
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/167284
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polytaenia texana
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/293110260/medium.jpg (Sam Kieschnick, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.