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Species of flowering plant in the celery family Apiaceae

Aegopodium podagraria, commonly called ground elder, is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family Apiaceae that grows in shady places. The name "ground elder" comes from the superficial similarity of its leaves and flowers to those of elder (Sambucus), which is not closely related. Other common names include herb gerard, bishop's weed, goutweed, gout wort, snow in the mountain, English masterwort and wild masterwort.

This herbaceous perennial grows to a height of from underground rhizomes. The stems are erect, hollow, and grooved. The upper leaves are ternate, broad and toothed. It flowers in spring and early summer. Numerous flowers are grouped together in an umbrella shaped flowerhead known as a compound umbel. The main umbel is further divided into several secondary umbels known as umbellets or umbellules. Each umbellet has 15 to 20 rays (pedicels) that are each topped with a single, small, five petaled white flower. The fruits, produced in late summer and autumn, are small and have long curved styles.

Aegopodium podagraria is distributed widely in the temperate zone of western Asia and the whole of mainland Europe. Because of this it has been described as a nuisance species, and been labelled one of the "worst" garden weeds in perennial flower gardens. It can pose an ecological threat owing to its invasive nature, with potential to crowd out native species. Hand pulling, raking, and digging followed by monitoring to control goutweed may be effective; however, caution must be taken to remove the entire rhizome and root system. Removing flowers before seed set may help control the spread of goutweed. Because goutweed's starch reserves are typically depleted by spring, removal of leaves in spring could be effective in starving the plant. Once goutweed has been removed, the patch should be carefully monitored periodically for a few years. New shoots should be dug up and destroyed. Revegetation with other plant materials is recommended. Systemic herbicides such as glyphosate are recommended because A. podagraria will regrow if merely defoliated.

A variegated form is grown as an ornamental plant. However it is banned in several states owing to its invasiveness. Seeds from the variegated form may revert to the more aggressive green form. It also had a history as a medicinal herb to treat gout and arthritis, applied in hot wraps externally upon boiling both leaves and roots together. Ingested, the leaves have a diuretic effect and act as a mild sedative. Its use as a medicinal herb has largely declined. The plant is said to have been introduced into Great Britain by the Romans as a food plant and into Northern Europe as a medicinal herb by monks. It is still found growing in patches surrounding many monastic ruins in Europe, and descriptions of its use are found among monastic writings, such as in Physica by Hildegard von Bingen. Do not confuse with extremely toxic poison hemlock and hemlock water dropwort.