LEFT:  Purple blotched stem  Poison Hemlock, Conium maculatum L.. BELOW LEFT: Pinnately dissected, fernlike leaf of Poison Hemlock. BELOW RIGHT: Cicuta maculata L., Water Hemlock, found in wetlands, ditches, roadside ditches, streams, ponds, drier clearings.  Cicuta douglasii of the Western United States looks similar to Water Hemlock of the East, but stem may not have purple coloring. Distinguishing characteristic is chambered root and base of stem, also, lateral veins on leaves terminate at base of marginal teeth rather than points.