CICUTA, properly signifies an hollow intercepted between two knots, of the stalks or reeds of which the ancient shepherds used to make their pipes. It is now, however, generally used to signify the water hemlock, and also the common sort; but Linnaeus has described the latter under the old name of CONIUM. See that article.
There are three species of water-hemlock; the virosa, the bulbifera, and the maculata. Of these the first is the only one remarkable, and that for the poisonous qualities of its roots, which have been often known to destroy children who eat them for parsnips.