Pastinaca
Pastinaca is a genus of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, comprising 14 species. The economically most important member of the genus is Pastinaca sativa, the parsnip.
Etymology
The etymology of the generic name Pastinaca is not known with certainty. The name may be derived from the Latin word pastino, meaning "to prepare the ground for planting of the vine" or the Latin word pastus, meaning "food", liberally translated as "Earth-food".Taxonomy
For comparison, The Plant List, the Integrated Taxonomic Information System, and the National Plant Germplasm System recognize 6, 1, and 16 species in the genus Pastinaca, respectively.| The Plant List | ITIS | NPGS | Other | |
| Pastinaca argyrophylla Delip. | Unresolved | Accepted | ||
| Pastinaca armena Fisch. & C. A. Mey. | Unresolved | Accepted | ||
| Pastinaca fleischmannii Hladnik | Synonym of Pastinaca sativa L. | |||
| Pastinaca fleischmannii Hladnik ex W. D. J. Koch | Accepted | |||
| Pastinaca gelendostensis Hand | Accepted | |||
| Pastinaca glandulosa Boiss. & Hausskn. | Synonym of Dumaniana glandulosa Yıld. & B.Selvi | Accepted | ||
| Pastinaca hirsuta Pančić | Accepted | Accepted | ||
| Pastinaca kochii Duby | Unresolved Rouy & E.G.Camus | Accepted | ||
| Pastinaca latifolia DC. | Accepted | |||
| Pastinaca latifolia DC. | Accepted | |||
| Pastinaca lucida L. | Accepted | Accepted | ||
| Pastinaca pimpinellifolia M. Bieb. | Unresolved | Accepted | ||
| Pastinaca sativa L. | Accepted | Accepted | Accepted | |
| Pastinaca sativa subsp. divaricata Rouy & E.G.Camus | Accepted | Not recognized | ||
| Pastinaca sativa subsp. sativa | Accepted | |||
| Pastinaca sativa var. sativa L. | Not accepted | |||
| Pastinaca sativa subsp. sylvestris Rouy & E. G. Camus | Synonym of Pastinaca sativa L. | Not accepted | Accepted | Not recognized |
| Pastinaca sativa subsp. urens Čelak. | Accepted | Not recognized | ||
| Pastinaca sativa subsp. urens Čelak. | Synonym of Pastinaca umbrosa Steven | |||
| Pastinaca umbrosa Steven | Accepted | |||
| Pastinaca yildizii Dirmenci | Synonym of Dumaniana yildizii Yıld. | Accepted | ||
| Pastinaca zozimoides Fenzl | Synonym of Dumaniana zozimoides Yıld. & B.Selvi | Accepted |
In summary, 19 species names are accepted by at least one naming authority. Of those, 13 names are uncontested by some other authority.
The following names are accepted by two or more naming authorities: Pastinaca hirsuta Pančić, Pastinaca lucida L., and Pastinaca sativa L. Only one of those names is accepted by all three naming authorities.