Giant Hogweed

[+Borst68]

I searched this and hadn't seen a thread about it since 2008 so I thought I would post another one. Be wary of giant hogweed if you live in an area where it is common. Here in Western NY, it is becoming increasingly common. Pictures of burns from exposure to the sap are not pretty so it is important to stay away from it. There are plenty of picture of it on the web if you don't know what it looks like. It has a flower similar to Queen Anne's Lace and grows upwards of 15 feet tall. If your find some in NY, you should report its whereabouts to the NYDEC (Dept. of Environmental Conservation). I found some today while searching for the first leg of a multi. It happens to be at the end of a bridge and is in a prime spot for children and pets to be exposed.

[+roziecakes]

 

And an image for the forum too That plant is quite large... wow.

[Mr.Yuck]

I searched this and hadn't seen a thread about it since 2008 so I thought I would post another one. Be wary of giant hogweed if you live in an area where it is common. Here in Western NY, it is becoming increasingly common. Pictures of burns from exposure to the sap are not pretty so it is important to stay away from it. There are plenty of picture of it on the web if you don't know what it looks like. It has a flower similar to Queen Anne's Lace and grows upwards of 15 feet tall. If your find some in NY, you should report its whereabouts to the NYDEC (Dept. of Environmental Conservation). I found some today while searching for the first leg of a multi. It happens to be at the end of a bridge and is in a prime spot for children and pets to be exposed.

 

Whoa, she's spreading. When I first heard about this stuff as a Geocacher 5 or 6 years ago, it was only in NY, Ontario, and Washington State. I assumed it still was. Guess not. distribution map Seeing as it is spreading, good for you to bring it up.

 

I did see specimen as amazing as nymphnsatyr's pic while caching in Ontario once (without a camera). There's a couple lamo pictures in my gallery at other caches, but none good enough to post here.

[+Borst68]

I searched this and hadn't seen a thread about it since 2008 so I thought I would post another one. Be wary of giant hogweed if you live in an area where it is common. Here in Western NY, it is becoming increasingly common. Pictures of burns from exposure to the sap are not pretty so it is important to stay away from it. There are plenty of picture of it on the web if you don't know what it looks like. It has a flower similar to Queen Anne's Lace and grows upwards of 15 feet tall. If your find some in NY, you should report its whereabouts to the NYDEC (Dept. of Environmental Conservation). I found some today while searching for the first leg of a multi. It happens to be at the end of a bridge and is in a prime spot for children and pets to be exposed.

 

Whoa, she's spreading. When I first heard about this stuff as a Geocacher 5 or 6 years ago, it was only in NY, Ontario, and Washington State. I assumed it still was. Guess not. distribution map Seeing as it is spreading, good for you to bring it up.

 

I did see specimen as amazing as nymphnsatyr's pic while caching in Ontario once (without a camera). There's a couple lamo pictures in my gallery at other caches, but none good enough to post here.

 

Todays find was at Royalton Ravine Co. Park. I noticed some last summer along Millersport Highway north of the 990. The DEC got that taken care of in early July.

[+atmospherium]

This stuff scares the daylights out of me. Mainly because I live right in the neighborhood the OP is talking about and I know it's out there, yet I've never seen it and I'm terrified that any day now I'm going to blunder right into it.

 

I think I'll walk out to where it was spotted and take a look to familiarize myself with it. I can handle poison ivy and stinging nettles, but Giant Hogweed is the kind of misery I can happily live without.

[+2qwerqE]

 

Watch this video. It tells us that the oil from this plant makes your skin super sensitive to UV light, and stays that way for years, so that sun exposure on effected skin can burn you over and over again for years. Yikes!

 

Here's another link, complete with burn pics:

 

more info

[+cw1710]

Wow. I'm from the south and have never heard of this. That is some scary stuff. Keep it up north and get it eradicated! Thanks for posting this.

[GOF and Bacall]

Yeah. That is my cache the OP was at. The existence of hogweed in the park is already known to NYS DEC and noted on the cache page. What, if anything, they do about it I couldn't tell you. I'm gonna have to check on it. Is it too close to the first leg?

[+Casting Crowns]

I had a far worse reaction to poison oak as a kid.

[+Borst68]

Yeah. That is my cache the OP was at. The existence of hogweed in the park is already known to NYS DEC and noted on the cache page. What, if anything, they do about it I couldn't tell you. I'm gonna have to check on it. Is it too close to the first leg?

 

Not sure. I was unable to find the first leg. It is about 10-15 feet from the bridge. I did notice that there is a warning on the cache page. Please understand I am not trying to call you out on this. It probably was not there when you placed the cache. Hogweed is becoming a big problem in Western NY. My concern is that someone (geocacher or non-geocacher) could end up touching it and getting burned. It is in a bad spot for general park visitors. I was hoping the DEC (or other agency) would come and eradicate it. I saw some last summer off of Millersport Highway that was removed by some govt. agency.

 

BTW, I will give your cache another try. I went 1 for 3 in Royalton Ravine that day. There are some tough hides there. It is such a cool park so will give it another shot.

[GOF and Bacall]

I had a far worse reaction to poison oak as a kid.

 

Did it come back every time you got a little sunshine on the afflicted area? That is what makes this such a big problem.

[GOF and Bacall]

Yeah. That is my cache the OP was at. The existence of hogweed in the park is already known to NYS DEC and noted on the cache page. What, if anything, they do about it I couldn't tell you. I'm gonna have to check on it. Is it too close to the first leg?

 

Not sure. I was unable to find the first leg. It is about 10-15 feet from the bridge. I did notice that there is a warning on the cache page. Please understand I am not trying to call you out on this. It probably was not there when you placed the cache. Hogweed is becoming a big problem in Western NY. My concern is that someone (geocacher or non-geocacher) could end up touching it and getting burned. It is in a bad spot for general park visitors. I was hoping the DEC (or other agency) would come and eradicate it. I saw some last summer off of Millersport Highway that was removed by some govt. agency.

 

BTW, I will give your cache another try. I went 1 for 3 in Royalton Ravine that day. There are some tough hides there. It is such a cool park so will give it another shot.

 

I did not think I was being called out. I just wanted to know how close it was to the cache. I'm gonna have to get there soon.

 

The other of my caches in that park gets a lot of cammo help from mother nature. I have actually replaced it only to have the next finder ask "Why two containers?" So get to ground zero and think about what could be covering and uncovering a cache in such a way that even the owner would be having trouble with it.

[+Casting Crowns]

I had a far worse reaction to poison oak as a kid.

 

Did it come back every time you got a little sunshine on the afflicted area? That is what makes this such a big problem.

 

No.

[+popokiiti]

I have seen something that looks similar here, but it was apparently on the list of "jobs to do" by city workers, and I haven't seen it in a long time.

[+roziecakes]

We saw some of this lovely stuff today while caching here in Oregon. I wasn't sure it that's what it was, but it looked like Queen Anne's Lace and was HUGE. I just googled Giant Hogweed in Oregon and sure enough, it does exist around here. Ick!

[4wheelin_fool]

 

Watch this video. It tells us that the oil from this plant makes your skin super sensitive to UV light, and stays that way for years, so that sun exposure on effected skin can burn you over and over again for years. Yikes!

 

Here's another link, complete with burn pics:

 

more info

 

That's pretty interesting. I'm certain that despite the negative effects, there is a positive use for it in the medical field that someone could make a ton of money off of.

[knowschad]

Apparently very similar, but unreleated, to wild parsnip, which we've been warned about in the midwest for a few years. I haven't seen any yet myself (and hope not to!)

 

http://www.dec.ny.gov/pubs/44632.html has info on both plants.

[+brslk]

Apparently very similar, but unreleated, to wild parsnip, which we've been warned about in the midwest for a few years. I haven't seen any yet myself (and hope not to!)

 

http://www.dec.ny.gov/pubs/44632.html has info on both plants.

 

LPC's are the way to avoid these things...

[Mr.Yuck]

We saw some of this lovely stuff today while caching here in Oregon. I wasn't sure it that's what it was, but it looked like Queen Anne's Lace and was HUGE. I just googled Giant Hogweed in Oregon and sure enough, it does exist around here. Ick!

 

It doesn't get really huge here in NY (or Ontario, where I cache a lot) until about July. You can't miss this stuff, it is, umm, huge. I still have nightmares about the 15 foot high one I saw in Ontario in 2008 or so. It does indeed look like Queen Anne's lace on steroids.

[+simpler1773]

Thanks for posting this, I had no idea it even existed and come to find out it's right here in Washington! Yikes!

[Mr.Yuck]

A bad cell phone pic, but this 8 footer just starting to flower was spotted by myself in a Buffalo, NY City park today. The cache, which I DNF'd, is in there somewhere. I'm the first person to mention this stuff. Cache was last found 7 days ago.

 

[Hazelette]

... this 8 footer just starting to flower...

Hope ya reported the dangerous plant to the Parks dept!

 

Question just popped into my head... should the CO disable their cache due to dangerous and toxic plant proliferation onto the cache site?

Edited May 26, 2010 by Hazelette

[Mr.Yuck]

... this 8 footer just starting to flower...

Hope ya reported the dangerous plant to the Parks dept!

 

Question just popped into my head... should the CO disable their cache due to dangerous and toxic plant proliferation onto the cache site?

 

Judgement call. And I ain't making it in this case, seeing as I didn't actually find the cache.

[+Klatch]

Found lots of this yesterday along the trail to this cache. I did report it to the Parks Department for positive ID.

 

 

Edited May 26, 2010 by Klatch