Giant Hogweed, a very large invasive plant, is so dangerous that it can cause third-degree burns and blindness– and it was found last week in Virginia. The Massey Herbarium at Virginia Tech confirmed the identity of the plant after a homeowner spotted a stand of it near Winchester, Virginia.
A giant hogweed in North Carolina. (Photo courtesy of Terry English, USDA APHIS PPQ, Bugwood.org)
The Virginia Department of Transportation has also received reports of sightings, and in 2016, it was found in Caldwell County, North Carolina. “Now that there’s a confirmed sighting, we need to be on the lookout,” Ken Slack, a VDOT spokesman, told the Washington Post. “We have to make sure folks don’t get into it … don’t go after it like a weed.”
Giant hogweed can grow up to fifteen feet tall and has a clear, toxic sap that makes human skin and eyes dangerously sensitive to sunlight if it makes direct contact. Telltale signs of the plant are its height, white umbrella-shaped flower canopies, a green hairy stalk with purple splotches, and huge incised leaves that can grow up to five feet across. In a note on its Facebook page, Isle of Wight County, Virginia, said the plant “makes poison ivy look like a walk in the park.”
Native to Asia, giant hogweed has been in the United States for decades, notably in the Northeast and Pacific Northwest. And while the Winchester plants are the first confirmed in Virginia, Dr. Jordan Metzgar, curator of the Massey Herbarium, says there’s no need to panic.
The hogweed in question was deliberately planted on the property decades ago as an ornamental addition, and the plant doesn’t appear to have yet become widespread. If you think you see giant hogweed, Metzgar suggests calling your local extension agent to confirm its identity, since it is often confused with cow parsnip or even Queen Anne’s lace, which is much smaller.
And whatever you do, do not DIY giant hogweed removal with your weed whacker.
Is it in the family which includes, Queen Ann’s lace?
It looks similar in plant structure and blossom.
We to the north of you have a giant hogweed problem.
Here is some further information on it from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation:
Giant Hogweed
Do Not Touch This Plant!
Giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) is a Federally listed noxious weed.
Its sap, in combination with moisture and sunlight, can cause severe skin and eye irritation, painful blistering, permanent scarring and blindness.
Contact between the skin and the sap of this plant occurs either through brushing against the bristles on the stem or breaking the stem or leaves.
What to do if you come in contact with giant hogweed:
Immediately wash the affected area thoroughly with soap and water and keep the area away from sunlight for 48 hours.
This plant poses a serious health threat; see your physician if you think you have been burned by giant hogweed.
If you think you have giant hogweed on your property, do NOT touch it.
Please refer to our Health Hazards & Safety Instructions for Giant Hogweed for more information.
How do you identify giant hogweed?
Giant hogweed is a biennial or perennial herb in the carrot family (Apiaceae) which can grow to 14 feet or more.
Its hollow, ridged stems grow 2-4 inches in diameter and have dark reddish-purple blotches.
Its large compound leaves can grow up to 5 feet wide.
Its white flower heads can grow up to 2 1/2 feet in diameter.
Please refer to the Giant Hogweed Identification page for further help.
Some other plants look very similar.
What to do if you see giant hogweed:
Identify: Use the key on our giant hogweed identification page to try and make a positive identification.
Other plants that look similar are also shown.
Photograph: Photos are needed to confirm identification.
Take high resolution photos of the entire plant, stem, leaves, flowers and seeds, making sure to keep a safe distance.
Report: Email DEC or call the Giant Hogweed Hotline: 1-845-256-3111.
Provide photos, detailed directions to the plant infestation and estimate the number of plants.
Control: If giant hogweed is confirmed, DEC will contact the landowner and may visit to assess the site and discuss management options, as resources allow.
Where is giant hogweed found?
Giant hogweed is a native of the Caucasus Mountain region between the Black and Caspian Seas.
It was introduced to Europe and the United Kingdom in the late nineteenth century and to the United States in the early twentieth century as an ornamental garden plant.
It has become established in New England, the Mid-Atlantic Region and the Northwest.
Giant hogweed grows along streams and rivers and in fields, forests, yards and roadsides.
It prefers open sites with abundant light and moist soil but it can grow in partially shaded habitats, too.
This one time we can appreciate Mr. Plante’s verbose writing. Thanks, Mr. Plante.
You’re very welcome, Mr. Taylor!
And compared to the writings of Virginia’s James Madison in the Federalist Papers, all of which I have read word for word for word, because there were many of them in there, words, that is, and very few of them monosyballic, mine are actually quite short.
What act of ‘Diversity’ brought this to our shores?
People, like the Facebook millionaires of today, who wanted to be surrounded by exotica, no matter the cost.
It was introduced to Europe and the United Kingdom in the late nineteenth century and to the United States in the early twentieth century as an ornamental garden plant.
As you will recall from your schoolboy history lessons, Mr. Slide, the late 1800’s and early 1900’s were the era of such American “Robber Barons” and “wealth creators” like Jason “Jay” Gould, a leading American railroad developer and speculator portrayed as one of the ruthless robber barons of the Gilded Age, whose success at business made him one of the richest men of his era, a man who was hated and reviled, with few defenders then and now, and John D. Rockefeller and the rest of that crowd, with their great estates and landscape architects, each trying to outdo the others with displays of ostentation.
That is how it got here.
Those are the acts of ‘Diversity’ which brought this to our shores.
Thanks for taking the time to point that out to all the readers in here who follow the Cape Charles Mirror for the real news you don’t get on “fake news” FOX, or in the NYT or WAPO.
It is appreciated.