June 13, 2015

  • The Curse of the Giant Hogweed

    I have a certain route I like to take when I walk Boo (my dog). We go down the grassy alley behind our house, across the field at the end of the alley, through a pine grove, across the corner of a meadow, into the woods and, when it's not too overgrown, down a tiny path to the creek bank, along the creek for a few yards and back up the bank on a less overgrown but much steeper path. And then we do all of that in reverse. I posted photos from our usual walk a couple of years ago in THIS POST.

    The title of this post is the title of a book I read many years ago by the much missed Charlotte MacLeod. That book was the first time I'd ever heard of giant hogweed, and even then I thought the author had made it up. Giant hogweed is native to central Asia, but was imported into Australia, the UK, and North America in the early 1900s as an ornamental plant for gardens and arboretums. It was valued for it's majestic size; its height is between 7 and 14 feet tall (depending on growth stage and growing conditions)  and its leaves can reach 5 feet across. The flowers look like Queen Anne's lace, but much larger; a cluster of flowers can grow to 2.5 feet across. The leaves are coated with a highly toxic sap that can cause horrific blisters resulting in permanent scarring. If the sap gets into your eyes, you may go blind. Reactions to the sap can take up to 48 hours to appear and are triggered by exposure to sunlight. I won't post any of the photos of the blisters, but you can Google it if you want to see what this plant can do to you.

    I'm sure you can see where this post is going. A couple of weeks ago, I took Boo on our regular walking route into the woods. As we entered the woods from the corner of the meadow, I immediately noticed some really tall plants with huge leaves a few yards off the path. Somebody had just posted photos of giant hogweed on Facebook a few days previously, asking if anyone knew what the plant was, so that's where my mind went on my first sight of the plants. As we walked a little way further along the path, I noticed more plants growing closer to the path. I only had my cell phone with me and snapped a couple of photos with it. I kept Boo on a short leash until we were out of that section of woods and I couldn't see anymore of the big plants.

    I did a little research when I got home, with those photos as a guide, and was undecided whether I was looking at the highly toxic giant hogweed or the harmless cow parsnip, so the next day I took Boo for another walk and took my camera along to get some better photos. This time I noticed several places next to the path where "small" plants (about three or four feet tall) were growing. They were obviously going to be very large plants; the stalks had a diameter of approximately two inches and the leaves were already quite big and had the distinctive deeply lobed, irregular edges. While I still wasn't sure about the large flowering plants, I was pretty certain the smaller ones were young giant hogweed. When Boo and I got home, I downloaded the photos and transferred them to a flash drive which I took to the village clerk's office.

    As I walked in, I was wondering how on earth I was going to start a conversation about something that sounds as ridiculous as giant hogweed, especially if the clerk had never heard of it. I lucked out, though; both the clerk and the treasurer had heard of it. In fact, I was immediately told that it had never been reported in our county. That's a natural reaction to hearing that a dangerous invasive plant may have landed in your tiny village. Nobody wants to be the first to report something like that. But if you read the post I linked above, you know that there are ATV/dirt bike/BMX/gocart trails through those woods. Kids build forts in those woods, and I expect teenagers get up to normal teenage naughtiness in those woods. I even have a couple of geocaches hidden in those woods. While Boo and I rarely meet anybody in our rambles through the woods, the signs of activity are everywhere. I could see that realization hit the two ladies in the office even as the denial was coming out of their mouths. I left the flash drive with them, along with a description of the area where the photos had been taken, and suggested they might want to have somebody look at the photos or go into the woods and look at the plants.

    This morning, the village Facebook page had this announcement:

    "ATTENTION Baroda area residents! Giant hogweed has been confirmed in Baroda. It is extremely important that you familiarize yourself with this very toxic and extremely dangerous plant. The plants that have been found have been removed and the area sprayed. If you think you have any in your area, keep children and pets clear of it."

    They added a video that showed what it looked like and explained what to do if you find a suspicious plant. It appears that Boo and I were the first to spot and report the giant hogweed that has invaded The 'Duh; indeed, the first to report it in our county. According to the Michigan Department of Agriculture website, only 2% of reported sightings are actually giant hogweed - another reason I'd almost convinced myself I was seeing cow parsnip. I feel like I have super-vision, but the reality is that others probably saw that plant in the woods and didn't think a thing about it. I was primed to recognize it by a fortuitous Facebook post.

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Comments (9)

  • Oh, no! Now I'll have to go look for it in our woods.

  • Youza! I'm not surprised that you recognized it. You seem to have a knack in remembering logs and trees and plants you've seen before. Amazing that you can hike a stretch and say "Wait, I think the cache is under that log over there." and be absolutely right! Now you are famous in finding and reporting the invader. Think of the lives you have saved!!!

    • Haha! I didn't give them my name. I don't want the village to start thinking of me as Hogweed Hannah or something.

  • What a horrible plant. I'm glad you recognized it, and I'm glad they took action and got rid of as much as they could! I imagine you've given Boo a good soapy bath after that!

  • Giant hog weed is a bane. It is horrific in it's effects on humans and animals. The worst part is the idea of a dog or cat brushing against one of the plants and a person or most especially a child hugging and petting the animal... then ending up blind as the result. I commend you on being alert to a different plant and smartly photographing it and taking the time to share your information with the right people. You have done a great service for your community.

  • Not only have you saved people in your local community by reporting this, but you have educated others by posting your pictures and story online, I am sure helping others be aware now as well. Good job!

  • wow ~ and I've never even HEARD of the plant! :(

  • I never heard of it before either! SO glad you reported it and that they payed attention to you! Amazing!

  • I don't mean to stoop to this level, but doesn't toxic also mean it has some other effects.

    I looked up some photos of hog weed poisoning/ eww what a delight to be in touch with this plant.

    Nice one.

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