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Return Of The Giant Hogweed

Hogweed Watch Update

I drove up to Bolton this afternoon via Radcliffe and Little Lever. This scenic? route skirts Moses Gate Park, said to be the centre of this new invasion. While there were plenty of umbellifers around, I saw nothing that could be identified as a hogweed.

Driving back on the motorway, I did spot one, about half a mile from the Prestwich exit.

I think they are on the march and heading my way! :eek:
 
JamesWhitehead said:
Or could they have been beating each other with the hollow stems? :confused:
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I do remember a neighbour's wean being hospitalised back in the 70s when they had been using the hollow stems as peashooters :(
 
Frideswide said:
I do remember a neighbour's wean being hospitalised back in the 70s when they had been using the hollow stems as peashooters :(
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Yes, that is the kind of contact with the plant I recall causing problems. I'm puzzled by the recent pictures, as I had assumed the poison was concentrated in the sap.

Can they cause such damage by mere brushing? Perhaps they were wet and drenched the kids on their shoulders? That might fit the pattern of skin-damage. Are they so potent? :confused:
 
People do have different reactions to stuff so it could be that?

I'm very sensitive to euphorbia, especially of I get sun on the sap before I've got it all off. Mr Frideswide pulls it up without any problems at all, insensitive oaf that he is :D
 
My grandad taught me the pea shooter trick using cow parsley which was nuts of him considering its similarity to hog weed and hemlock. All three are common in the area and I don't recall any warning. Mind you, he fed me whisky as a baby and gave me an air rifle at seven so maybe he didn't like me very much!
 
prof_moriarty said:
My grandad taught me the pea shooter trick using cow parsley which was nuts of him considering its similarity to hog weed and hemlock. All three are common in the area and I don't recall any warning. Mind you, he fed me whisky as a baby and gave me an air rifle at seven so maybe he didn't like me very much!
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An acquaintance of my mine was fed whiskey to ease his toothache when he was a child. He grew up in the countryside and had that weapon too. He used to tell fibs about his teeth just to get another swig of ye olde fire water.
 
As a child in the 1950's I certainly knew how to make a pea shooter from cow parsley, but I knew nothing about hemlock or hog weed -I doubt if my parents did, either.
Dried peas were frequently to be found in kitchen cupboards - this was not so very long after the war.
I seem to have lived to tell the tale!:)
 
Knotweed or Hogweed will no doubt be very handy when/if we ever make it to the stage were we can terraform other planets. I doubt theres anything - including extraterrestrial bacteria - that can tame the plant.

Sadly though, this also reminds me of the Alistair Reynold novel - Galactic North and the Greenfly terreaformers that malfunctioned. Imagine Knotweed in space and you will get the general jist :)
 
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We have a herd of sheep as lawnmowers in our city park - very quaint!
I once heard about experiments where sheep exterminated hogweed by frequent grazing. It was said that they like the plant because of its high protein content.
From personal observation I can say that this is true. It's the first thing they eat and the plants come up again, but now reduced to one third of their normal size.
 
I remember going on holiday with my family when I was a teenager in the 70s, and we visited a big old house.
They had warning signs up in the garden, and when we walked around...we saw these huge things. As tall as trees!
I got a spooky feeling from seeing them. A bit like seeing the Triffids.
 
There are loads here along the river, they have been sprayed off in the more accessible places but a lot are going to seed.
 
A couple of years ago, while i was strimming a patch of land which, while not particularly overgrown, did get that way quite quickly if it was just left, i made the mistake of ignoring the fact that there were several hogweed plants round the edge. As they were immature plantlets, about 3" high, i figured no big deal and just carried on razing the area-brambles, nettles and so on. It was a warm late spring day so i wasnt wearing a long sleeved shirt, just lots of insect repellent.
Later that evening after showering i felt like i had caught the sun, that sort of tight, warm feeling which over the course of the night became stinging and burning, i applied lots of aloe vera. The next morning all exposed areas of skin had become covered in blisters which itched like the devil and continued to itch for the next 3/4 weeks and subsequently left scars which i still have today. I thought that maybe it was because the plants were small, they were more concentrated-(like baby nettle stings have more of a wallop than older nettles), but reading this thread i think i may have got off lightly. Now when contemplating the weedy infestation it looks like i'll either have to resort to herding sheep down there (i could think of worse ways to spend the day), getting the toxins out or sweating inside a biohazard type suit.
Its a pity we cant find a use for it.
 
Let’s give Japanese knotweed invader its just desserts
Knotweed shoots taste like rhubarb and useful for jam - FF’s Cllr John Joe Culloty

Knotweed, the Japanese plant which is spreading rapidly in Ireland, damaging buildings and costing hundreds of thousands to eradicate, could have a new future – as a dessert.

The latest culinary advice was put before Kerry County Council by Fianna Fáil’s Cllr John Joe Culloty, who said knotweed shoots tasted “like rhubarb”, while it also made for an appetising jam.

Kerry Co Council has put aside a €100,000 fund this year in its attempts to destroy knotweed, which has held up the construction of a new community hospital in Kenmare and now covers stretches of the banks of the River Laune near Killorglin.

Several clumps of the invasive herbaceous perennial have also been found along the N22 near Killarney. It must be destroyed by repeated sprayings rather than cutting, since loose tiny fragments cause it to spread.

Mr Culloty’s cookery tip was given a cool reception by fellow councillors, though one of Ireland’s top chefs, Damien Grey, has teamed the plant with duck and redcurrants at his Heron and Grey restaurant in Blackrock, Co Dublin. ...

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/irel...est&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news_digest
 
Giant Hogweed is spreading like wildfire thanks to hot weather
By WMNJBayley | Posted: July 04, 2017
Video: 55 s.

Giant hogweed - the UK's most dangerous plant - is spreading at an alarming rate following the recent spell of hot weather.
June's heatwave and further warm weather this month has apparently created the perfect condition for the hazardous plant to thrive, according to the Bristol Post.

The plant is found across the country and there has already been an incident where an 11-year-old boy was taken to hospital after coming into contact with the toxic green and white plant in a park.
Adam Hodgson is the latest victim of what has been described as 'the most dangerous plant in the UK' joining many others who have suffered horrific injuries after coming touching it.
He picked up a piece of giant hogweed, mistaking it for a dock leaf after being stung by nettles.

The plant has in the past left several children in hospital with third-degree burns after their skin was exposed to a stem.
River Trust expert Mike Duddy said: "If you don't know what the plant is, it's exceedingly dangerous.
"It is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most dangerous plant in Britain."

etc...

http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/gia...-to-heatwave/story-30421040-detail/story.html

Photos on page.
 
I have not spotted any Giant Hogweed yet this year. There were plenty of umbellifers in Boggart Hole Clough earlier this week but I took them to be Cow Parsley, aka Mother Die!

Despite that fatal-sounding nickname, Cow Parsley is said to be edible, though unpleasant in taste.

rynner2 said:
"It is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most dangerous plant in Britain."
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Well it's certainly very nasty and painful but, so far as I know, it does not kill, unlike Yew, Laburnum, Monkshood and the Nightshades. :rolleyes:

Hemlock is another very poisonous umbellifer, quite hard to distinguish from Cow Parsley, though the stem is blotched with red and it emits a smell like mouse-excrement.

I was surprised to learn that the parsnip plant can, under certain conditions, produce blistering similar to Giant Hogweed! :eek:
 
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Apparently, its sting is worst when the sun is shining. It seems to activate the plant's toxins.
 
I'd heard Hog Weed was invasive but I had no idea about the many ways you can die from touching it :cool:

 
The scariest thing about hogweed is its size.
Has anybody actually died after touching it? Hadn't heard of that.
 
Mythopoeika said:
The scariest thing about hogweed is its size.
Has anybody actually died after touching it? Hadn't heard of that.
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When I was eight my hands became badly blistered from touching a hogweed, I needed medical treatment.
 
ramonmercado said:
When I was eight my hands became badly blistered from touching a hogweed, I needed medical treatment.
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That sounds awful, Ramon. But here you are, you didn't die.
 
Unfortunately they've made there way to the northeast states in the states as well. Another miserable invader. The local DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) is attempting prevent further expansion.
 
Mythopoeika said:
The scariest thing about hogweed is its size.
Has anybody actually died after touching it? Hadn't heard of that.
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I can't find any documented case of hogweed directly causing a human death.

The only allusions I've seen to fatalities have been cursory mentions in journalistic (as opposed to technical / medical) articles, and none of those give any specifics.

Conversely, I've seen general claims in technical / medical articles specifically stating giant hogweed is not considered a lethal plant.

The worst documented effect I can find is permanent blindness if the sap gets into / onto the surface of the eye(s).

The dramatic burning / blistering effects could, in principle, be indirectly lethal if the affected skin became the origin of an infection.

It may well be that lethality has at least sometimes been attributed to hogweed because it's a member of the parsnip family, which includes several quite poisonous plants.
 
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