Botanists required for Giant Hogweed identification

[The Birches Head Hunters]

A cacher recently reported Giant Hogweed in their log whilst looking for one of our caches :-

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...c3-e271b5ab9aa1

 

We visited the area, and whilst the cache itself is free of the plant in question, the local area does have a lot of this particular plant.

 

Can anyone confirm for definite whether this is Giant Hogweed?

 

I have added a couple of images here:-

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LU...5a-188b7646be9d

 

I took quite a few pictures, so if anyone is a keen botanist and needs another picture or two to be sure, let me know.

 

Many Thanks!

[+BCNorwich]

Hello,

 

I'd say your's is ordinary Hogweed. Giant Hogweed leaf lobes are more sharply pointen , your's have leaves with more rounded ends. You'll know Giant Hogweed if you do come across it, it is a true giant 10 or 12 feet high and very coarse. It's the sap which is toxic but I would advise not to even touch it as the foliage can also cause skin irritation.

 

Bernard

[Deceangi]

A quick google search threw up This clicking on the photo of the leaves gives a larger version. The leaves look different to those that you have posted.

[+Stuey]

and there was me thinking this was a Genesis music thread

[+Lotho]

I think i may be correct in assuming that the normal hogsweed is common as ive seen it alot of times. Twelve feet for giant stuff? Thats huge!!! I hope i never come across it

[Alan White]

That's not Giant Hogweed (a non-expert, non-botanist speaks). Giant Hogweed is huge: 3-4m tall and with red blotchy stems 2-3cm thick.

 

There does seem to be an unusual amount of GH around this year: much, much more than I've ever seen. Perhaps it's just the caches I'm doing lately . We abandoned one attempt when it became obvious that the cache was 100m away through a dense jungle of GH and nettles with no path. We decided to wait until autumn

[+PopUpPirate]

I know its considered dangerous but it's a shame to chop it down, it's such a magnificent plant.

[The Red Kite]

I remember my first encounter with the beast. I thought I was hallucinating. We sheltered under one of the leaves when it was raining!

 

I used to work for the Wildlife Trust and in one of our magazines there was a photo of a couple of their officers near the dreaded weed with a caption "two of the Borrowers go for a walk"

[+perth pathfinders]

There is lots of Giant Hogweed in Scotland, in remote places and along railway lines.

 

 

Here is a photo of one I took recently, yes complete with the red blotchy stems.

[+Simply Paul]

I've met giant hogweed within 100m of a cache, but you'd be stung to death by nettles long before being able to get to it. Should I alert the cache owner of the potential danger anyway?

[Alan White]

I've met giant hogweed within 100m of a cache, but you'd be stung to death by nettles long before being able to get to it. Should I alert the cache owner of the potential danger anyway?

Sounds familiar

 

GH is much more nasty than nettles. Nettle stings may be annoying for a while but they go away quickly and leave no lasting effects. Contact with GH will leave painful problems which recur for years (it says here - I've no direct experience).

 

Perhaps caches in areas of GH should have the Poison Plants attribute. I never thought we need that in this country.

[+Haggis Hunter]

The main problem with Giant Hogweed is that if you get the sap on your skin. Which can happen from brushing against it. Then the sun activates the sap, and 20 - 24 hours later you may have huge painful blisters to contend with. Up until this point it is apparently painless!

It is advised that if you do brush against it to cover the affected area immediately and wash it with hot soapy water as soon as possible.

It can also lead to lifelong photo sensitive dermatitis. i.e. you will never be able to expose that part of your skin to the sun again.

 

I came across some at a cache, that was still in it's infancy. Luckily the cache owner took heed and posted a warning on his cache page. My log has also got a good link telling you about it.

 

Best piece of advice is that if you are unsure, give it a wide berth. Better to be safe than sorry. Especially if you have got kids with you!!

[The Birches Head Hunters]

Thanks to everyone here for their comments.

 

From all the comments, links, images (and e-mails received) I have concluded that it is NOT Giant Hogweed that we are dealing with near our cache, but I will put a warning on the main description, just in case. The main reason I am convinced is that Giant Hogweed is obviously reddish and the plants we saw do not have even a hint of red. Also, Giant Hogweed looks quite imposing and stands out in the crowd, but the plants we saw were meek and mingled easily amongst the other vegetation!

 

Hurrah for Common Hogweed!

[+Stuey]

I've never seen it before, but I'll know what it is when I see it now, cheers!

[+davy boy]

I made the big mistake of strimming that stuff once and regretted it for weeks,the blisters are very painful and can leave scars.

[+Andy33]

Interesting thread, I had not realised the dangers of this plant or even how to recognise it. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for it in future.

 

Andy

[+also_cute_and_fluffy]

Arrggh

 

When I was a little girl (not that long ago I asure you) my Dad used to point out that plant and say don't touch it because you will get scabs all over you.

 

I guess he wasn't kidding

 

I haven't seen any lately though.

[+MartyBartfast]

Interesting thread, I had not realised the dangers of this plant or even how to recognise it. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for it in future.

 

Andy

 

Ditto, will definitely look out for it from now on.

[+Cache U Nutter]

GC122K9 Looking Glass Cache in the park at Market Bosworth in Leicestershire has some fantastic examples of the Giant variety within yards from the cache.

[+Alibags]

 

When I was a little girl (not that long ago I asure you) my Dad used to point out that plant and say don't touch it because you will get scabs all over you.

 

When I was a little girl I did touch that plant and I did end up with scabs all over me. Very unpleasant. Once seen never forgotten.

 

I think SP was referring to this cache where I had also opted out of nettles and hogweed.

[+dino-irl]

AFAIK it's a reportable species here in Ireland. Nasty stuff even if I'm wrong!

[+Dorsetgal & GeoDog]

Fascinatingly although Ragwort is a notifiable weed (Weeds Act 1959), Giant Hogweed was not covered until the Wildlife & Countryside Act of 1981.

 

"Giant hogweed is a lawsuit waiting to happen."

Edited July 16, 2007 by Dorsetgal & GeoDog

[+goldpot]

We have giant hogweeds in my park (Regent's Park)...you have given me an idea; place a nano cache right up the top of it and give it 5 star rating!

[+Bambi&Thumper]

I think there was a Rosmary and Thyme episode on over the w/e where giant hogweed was used in an effort to poison someone

 

B.

[+The Book Of Shadows]

We have giant hogweeds in my park (Regent's Park)...you have given me an idea; place a nano cache right up the top of it and give it 5 star rating!

 

Specialist equipment a bio hazard suit

[fraggle69]

You know your cache is an issue (or the plant is close by) when a cacher complains of the following :"painful, burning blisters that may develop into purplish or blackened scars." You then just need to raise the diff to a 5 and explain that specialist equipment may be required hahaha

[+Primitive Person]

You know your cache is an issue (or the plant is close by) when a cacher complains of the following :"painful, burning blisters that may develop into purplish or blackened scars." You then just need to raise the diff to a 5 and explain that specialist equipment may be required hahaha

 

My wife remembers posters warning of the dangers when she was at school in Scotland. I didn't know much about it, so I've just read up on it on Wikipedia - there's a link to a picture of Giant Hogweed-inflicted blisters. All I can say is, ouuuucccch. It looks incredibly nasty.

 

Lee