Parsnip has huge leaves. Queen Anne’s Lace has more ferny leaves. You are much more likely to confuse Queen Anne’s Lace with poison hemlock than you are wild parsnip.
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My neighbour down the street was growing this, on purpose, in their front yard… things get huge, like triffid kind of creepy. And then they city came and “eradicated” it for them. Ha, oops.
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Hogweed is dangerous stuff. We spotted a batch growing in a neighbour’s yard, just up the street from us here in Parkdale, Toronto. As we were checking it out some dude on a bike skids to a halt and sez: “Holy shit, is that hogweed!” and proceeded to knock on the door of the place to warn the owners. No one was home. I went back later and still no one was there, but I spoke with the folks next door with young kids who I’d seen playing in that same yard earlier and warned them. The plants weren’t removed right away and actually went to seed. It can take 3 years before the seeds germinate. haven’t seen any more in the neighbourhood but we’re keeping our eyes peeled. Grows to about 7 or 8 feet high with big broad leaves and a thick stalk. If you see it - arrange for it to be killed and removed properly; don’t just try to rip it out. The pros who deal with this plant wear hazmat suits.
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Ha! Hello fellow hogtown resident! The giant hogweed I saw was growing in Leslieville. No east vs. west in this one, we all lose!
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Queen Anne’s Lace is actually the 2nd year growth of wild carrot. The 1st year the tuber is produced. The 2nd year the flower is produced. Does Giant Hog Weed grow the same way?
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It also really reminds me of the Elderberry bushes I just planted in my yard. At first, I wondered how Queen Anne’s Lace got in the tree tubes that the bare root twigs are in… Granted, it’s a bush, not a stalk. But still, now I’ll think of that as well. https://www.prairiemoon.com/images/D/Sambucus-canadensis-Elderberry-bush-shrub-tree.jpg
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Turn and run! Nothing can stop them. Around every river and canal their power is growing. Stamp them out! We must destroy them! They infiltrate each city, with their thick dark warning odour… They are invincible! … Waste no time! They are approaching! Hurry now, we must protect ourselves, and find some shelter.
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There’s place for plants.
And there’s place for glyphosate.
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This plant has been in BC for some time now. WorkSafeBC put out a video on how to deal with them safely:
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If those idiots in Michigan had taken their daily Giant Hogweed eye drops they would never have been in the danger that spotting the Giant Hogweed plant represents.
And the song is based on a lot of factual material…
"native to the Caucasus Region and Central Asia. (“Long ago in the Russian hills”)
"Each purple spot on the stem surrounds a hair, and there are large, coarse white hairs at the base of the leaf stalk. … (“Kill them with your Hogweed hairs”)
"It was brought to Europe by 19th century naturalist explorers and subsequently escaped, spreading throughout much of Europe and the UK. (“A Victorian explorer found the regal Hogweed by a marsh, He captured it and brought it home.”)
"It is now widespread throughout the British Isles especially along riverbanks. (“Around every river and canal their power is growing.”)
"Its sap can cause phytophotodermatitis (severe skin inflammations) when the skin is exposed to sunlight or to UV-rays. (“They all need the sun to photosensitize their venom.”)
“Herbicides such as 2,4-D, TBA, MCPA and dicamba will kill above ground parts but are reportedly not particularly effective on persistent rootstalks. (“They seem immune to all our herbicidal battering.”)”
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Fun fact - the tuber still tastes like carrot if you dig it up when the plant is flowering. On the downside it will now have the consistency and texture of a popsicle stick.
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Let it grow, learn what it looks like, and treat it with caution.
The botanist kind? My local botanical gardens imported the seeds around 1800, I’m guessing very few gardeners at that time knew what they were up
against.
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It does here in the UK- maybe it would flower in its first year in warmer climates? This factsheet includes a helpful flowchart describing its growth.
Incidentally, it’s a bad idea to dig up and eat the roots of wild carrot-like plants unless one is absolutely sure of their identity; some of them are very poisonous.
This stuff laughs at glyphosate. You have to dig it up, and cut the root in at least half to make it go away.
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Where’s Agent Orange when we need him?
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