DANGEROUS PLANT COMES TO NIAGARA: HOGWEED Options

[Eazy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmP5gLWa2J8

I want to tell everyone that the KEY identifying characteristic of Giant Hogweed is its size: It can be anywhere from 3-5m (15-20’) tall! That’s AT LEAST twice the size of you and me! Giant Hogweed is most often confused with Giant Cow Parsnip, which is actually a native species (Hogweed comes from Southeast Asia). The main difference is that Giant Cow Parsnip is quite a bit smaller - between 2-3m (8-12’). You should not touch this plant either, as its sap is also an irritant (just not nearly as much as Hogweed). I also get calls from people who may confuse it with Wild Carrot (Queen Anne’s Lace), Angelica, and Hemlock, all of which are also native.
I would recommend that if you spot this weed, or even what you THINK may be Giant Hogweed, DON’T TOUCH IT OR ATTEMPT TO REMOVE IT! Please call the Invasive Species hotline 1-800-563-7711, go to the website at www.invadingspecies.com, or email a photo of the plant to info@invadingspecies.com. Your reported sighting WILL get to the proper people at the Region or your local municipality.
If you touch this plant, cover up any skin that has been affected immediately and seek medical attention.
Here is a great document that helps ID Hogweed: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/MDA_Hogw..._2_115074_7.pdf

Show your children this video. Hogweed changes the make up of your skin, and how it reacts to UV. Basically, sunlight causes 3rd degree burns and the sap can even cause blindness. This plant is in Niagara. Efforts are currently being taken in some areas of St.Catharines to remove the plant. Be safe out there guys and gals!

Chili: I'm not sure if this topic belong here, but it the best place I could think of.

[chilli]

Good spot Eazy and Thank you.
The Town of Fort Erie recently sprayed some cow parsnip "just in case" .

I've been asked to remove it tomorrow so long pants and gloves it is. I'll pass that pdf around.
Where can I get a look at it in St Kitts?

[smerchly]

Fort Erie hog weed.........


http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/Article...tandard%20Staff

[chilli]

if you look in the original thread: http://www.niagarafishing.net/forums/index...showtopic=16800 you will see a picture of the hogweed the town of Fort Erie just sprayed. I thought it was too but after looking at the PDF I figured it was just cow parsnip.

[cruddler]

I had a friend who was a Fort Erie "weed hog".. Never leave your stash around that guy!

[I'm_A_Drifter]

Jeez, first SARS, Avian Influenza, H1N1 now Giant Hogweed.....?

Genesis already wrote a song on it, so its influences aren't very new. Just the media making it more epidemic than normal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTuJQL8GBqY

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,
They seem immune to all our herbicidal battering.

Long ago in the russian hills,
A victorian explorer found the regal hogweed by a marsh,
He captured it and brought it home.
Botanical creature stirs, seeking revenge.
Royal beast did not forget.
He came home to london,
And made a present of the hogweed to the royal gardens at kew.

Waste no time!
They are approaching.
Hurry now, we must protect ourselves and find some shelter
Strike by night!
They are defenceless.
They all need the sun to photosensitize their venom.

Still they're invincible,
Still they're immune to all our herbicidal battering.

Fashionable country gentlemen had some cultivated wild gardens,
In which they innocently planted the giant hogweed throughout the land.
Botanical creature stirs, seeking revenge.
Royal beast did not forget.
Soon they escaped, spreading their seed,
Preparing for an onslaught, threatening the human race.

The dance of the giant hogweed

Mighty hogweed is avenged.
Human bodies soon will know our anger.
Kill them with your hogweed hairs
Heracleum mantegazziani

Giant hogweed lives

More lyrics: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/g/genesis/#share

[chilli]

Here's a PDF that I found the most usefull. http://www.seagrant.sunysb.edu/ais/pdfs/Gi...edFactsheet.pdf
The picture I posted in the other thread appears to be cow parsnip and so does the stuff I cut down today. I'd hate to think the Town is spraying herbicide around these sensitive wetlands just to rid us of a native edible plant.


View more pictures of this plant.
http://picasaweb.google.com/wildniagara/20...747105619314946

[Coachman]

Here's a PDF that I found the most usefull. http://www.seagrant.sunysb.edu/ais/pdfs/Gi...edFactsheet.pdf
The picture I posted in the other thread appears to be cow parsnip and so does the stuff I cut down today. I'd hate to think the Town is spraying herbicide around these sensitive wetlands just to rid us of a native edible plant.


View more pictures of this plant.
http://picasaweb.google.com/wildniagara/20...747105619314946

There is a variety of wild parsnip that is apparently almost as bad as the hogweed. I linked some stories about it in the other thread (which you commented on). I'm sure there is some confusion over identification. Is this perhaps a case of "better safe than sorry?"

[chilli]

I've been all through that wild parsnip without a problem although I don't think I broke the plant and even if I did it's a tough plant with little juice. It looks like a cross between dill and queen annes lace.