Another roadside beauty has been catching my eye for the past week. At a distance Thaspium trifoliatum var. flavum (Smooth Meadow Parsnip) is often confused with Southern Ragwort from "Roadside Color 3". A closer look at the bloom cluster (compound umbels) reveals the difference. The Parsnip compound umbel (up to 3") sits at the end of a long stalk with individual umbelets that are distinctly stalked. This is a perennial common to the Eastern and Central US. There is a purple variety in that exists in my county in the Western Highland Rim of Tennessee.