Noxious plant identification - Giant Hogweed

[+frinklabs]

I just got back from a cache that i haven't logged yet because I want to know whether or not to include a warning in it regarding nearby dangerous plants.

 

The difficulty is that I am not sure this plant is what I think it is.

 

I had a look at the Wikipedia article; the picture is close but not an exact match. Anyone?

 

Here's a pic of the whole plant; note that the flowers were at eye-level to me:

 

 

Detail of the flowers:

 

 

Detail of the leaf (this one was about 40cm in diameter):

 

 

Thanks!

[medoug]

Yes, I believe that's what it is. Around here we call it "wild parsnips". It's not real easy to get contact. You have to actually get some of the sap on your skin from crushing or breaking the leaves or stems. This is unlike poison ivy where all you need to do is brush lightly against it, but stomping your way to a cache through it could be enough of a disturbance to release its sap.

[+mymren]

I've never seen that in our area, but we have plenty of poison ivy, some as tall as that, some short. If there is a lot of it, I give a warning since many people are very allergic to it. I'm not, but my husband is (though he doesn't geocache with me). I keep a package of baby wipes in my car to wipe my legs and arms down when I get back if there is. I don't usually notice it until I'm leaving the cache since I was looking at the screen on my way.

[GOF and Bacall]

Kinda hard to judge the size from those pictures. To give you an idea of how big this stuff is here is a picture with a person standing next to it.

 

 

It is related to the wild parsnip but not the same thing. Here is a page of identifying features and plants often mistaken for Giant Hogweed. LINK

[+Treknschmidt]

We've seen various forms of leafs so we usually look closely at the stem to identify GH. The stem will have a purple hue to it and be somewhat fuzzy, the hairs are quite noticeable on the stem. It seems early for GH to be in flower but you didn't indicate where you are from so maybe it is where you are from.

[GOF and Bacall]

From the NY Department of Environmental Conservation website.

 

Health Hazards & Safety Instructions for Giant Hogweed (with graphic photos)LINK

[+mymren]

OMG! I'm glad I've never seen that stuff! How horrid - what part of the country does this grow? Can't something be done about getting rid of it?

[medoug]

Kinda hard to judge the size from those pictures. To give you an idea of how big this stuff is here is a picture with a person standing next to it.

 

 

It is related to the wild parsnip but not the same thing. Here is a page of identifying features and plants often mistaken for Giant Hogweed. LINK

 

GOF and Bacall, it is interesting that your link shows that wild parsnips has white flowers near the top of the page, but later shows it to have yellow flowers at the bottom of the page. Seems like a bit of contradiction there.

 

I believe what we have in Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin area where I cache is actually the wild parsnips due to its smaller size. What we have definitely has white, not yellow, flower heads though.

 

It sounds like the giant hogweed is both larger and more toxic than the wild parsnips, but keep in mind that the wild parsnips still has poisonous sap. So either should be avoided.

 

Also, the term "noxious" when used in this context does not necessarily mean poisonous. Noxious weeds are anything classified as highly invasive and undesireable. Canadian thistles, for example, are consider noxious weeds, but they are not toxic at all.

[+frinklabs]

The flowers were at my eye level, which would make it five feet tall.

 

The stem had the white hairs but didn't have the purple splotching. It was probably Cow Parsnip but I posted a warning anyways.

 

Better safe than sorry?

 

I saw some of this stuff at N43 46.663 W79 22.166 last year and the City put up a scary warning sign.

[knowschad]

Kinda hard to judge the size from those pictures. To give you an idea of how big this stuff is here is a picture with a person standing next to it.

 

 

It is related to the wild parsnip but not the same thing. Here is a page of identifying features and plants often mistaken for Giant Hogweed. LINK

 

GOF and Bacall, it is interesting that your link shows that wild parsnips has white flowers near the top of the page, but later shows it to have yellow flowers at the bottom of the page. Seems like a bit of contradiction there.

 

I believe what we have in Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin area where I cache is actually the wild parsnips due to its smaller size. What we have definitely has white, not yellow, flower heads though.

 

It sounds like the giant hogweed is both larger and more toxic than the wild parsnips, but keep in mind that the wild parsnips still has poisonous sap. So either should be avoided.

 

Also, the term "noxious" when used in this context does not necessarily mean poisonous. Noxious weeds are anything classified as highly invasive and undesireable. Canadian thistles, for example, are consider noxious weeds, but they are not toxic at all.

 

Wild parsnip is the one that we've been warned about in Wisconsin & Minnesota. I know that there is at least one look-alike that grows like mad on the banks of the rivers... in my fly fishing days, I was constantly getting my line tangled in the flowers.

 

This site has an excellent section on Wild Parsnip & Giant Hogweed, as well as poison ivy and sumac and stinging nettles. Scroll down to the Dangers in the Carrot Family section.

[knowschad]

Kinda hard to judge the size from those pictures. To give you an idea of how big this stuff is here is a picture with a person standing next to it.

 

 

It is related to the wild parsnip but not the same thing. Here is a page of identifying features and plants often mistaken for Giant Hogweed. LINK

 

I thought they were related, too, but apparently not!

 

Wild Parsnip - Pastinaca sativa

Giant Hogweed - Heracleum mantegazzianum

 

[Mr.Yuck]

You know, I remember in the past I've seen Giant Hogweed distribution maps on the web, and it's primary locations were Ontario, New York, and Washington State. But darned if I can find them now. Most of the stuff that comes up on Google is from the New York State DEC, if that means anything.

 

I know Frinklabs is from The Toronto area, and let me tell you, I saw about a 15 foot high specimen near the Ford Plant in Oakville in late July around 2007 or 2008 or so (while Geocaching, of course). It's some ugly and scary looking stuff. That was before smartphones though, so I don't have a pic or anything. But there are plenty of links out there on the web, definitely don't touch this stuff.

[4wheelin_fool]

You may want to read

this thread

this thread

and this thread

Edited June 4, 2012 by 4wheelin_fool

[Mr.Yuck]

You may want to read

this thread

this thread

and this thread

 

Hey, thanks. I clicked on the first thread, and within the first 3 or 4 posts is a post by yours truly, and I post a link to the distibution map

 

I will blame this on my kid getting an XBox last year, and me using BING as my homepage. But hey, I earn microsoft points for using it. Cut me some slack, the daily picture on BING is highly interesting, usually.

Edited June 4, 2012 by Mr.Yuck

[+jellis]

And I thought Stinging Nettles and Poison Oak were bad.

Also I thought I was safe being out here on the West Coast then I saw this:

Giant Hogweed

Haven't heard about any in California but I will keep an eye out.

Edited June 5, 2012 by jellis

[medoug]

I don't know if we should be trusting the USDA distribution maps too much on these plants. I think they are just plain wrong, not just out-of-date. I say this because I reviewed the map for "cow parsnips" which I have positively identified in at least 2 eastern Iowa counties for many years, yet the Iowa map only shows it located in a few western counties.