Posted on 06/18/2018 10:39:26 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Giant hogweed is part of the carrot family, and for a toxic plant, it is surprisingly pretty. It can grow up to 14 feet tall, with thick leaves stretching two to five feet across and large clusters of white flowers gracing the top of the plant in an umbrella pattern. The spray of white flowers looks similar to Queen Anne's Lace, but the experts at Massey Herbarium note that giant hogweed is much larger, with chunkier leaves.
The Virginia Tech group posted photos of the plant on Facebook, urging anyone who comes across a giant hogweed plant to report it -- and be careful not to touch it.
The dangerous plant also grows in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Oregon, Washington, Michigan, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
Its sap contains toxic chemicals known as photosensitizing furanocoumarins. When these chemicals come into contact with human skin, it can cause a reaction that makes skin extremely sensitive to light. The reaction also causes dark, painful blisters, which can leave scars.
Touching giant hogweed can also lead to long-term sunlight sensitivity, and blindness if sap gets into a person's eye.
When the plant spread across New York in the past, The New York State Department of Health recommended that anyone who came in contact with the plant wash it off with cold water immediately and get out of the sun. A toxic reaction can begin as soon as 15 minutes after contact. Call your health care provider in case of a severe reaction.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
But, but, but....it’s “all natural.”
They reported this knowing that their own stupid followers would go out looking for it for the following reasons:
1. to prove what was said about it was true/false
2. to see if they could smoke it and get high
and
3. to have another “climate change” story about how mother nature is fighting back against the infestation of humans.
The North is retaliating for all the kudzu.
Tell millennials it will get them high, they will try it, no question.
that crap grows all over the place here.
Dare them to take the hogweed challenge and they will post youtube videos subjecting themselves to contact/pain
Damn, where can I buy seeds for this plant in commercial quantities? I want to pay China back for their “gifts” of snakehead fish and stink bugs to Maryland and other states.
They are invincible . . . they seem immune to all our herbicidal battering!
I just found a link to it in Washington State - said it originally came over from Asia! I thought Devil’s Club was about all I had to worry about in the Pacific Northwest!
So it’s named after David Hogg.
Its dangers are more than coincidental.
Strike by night,
They are defenseless,
They all need the sun,
To photosynthesise their venom.
The dopers tell me plants can’t be harmful.
I find that hard to believe. The anti-drug-war contingent on Free Republic seems to be quite intelligent. Can you point me to one example where one of them has told anyone that plants can’t be harmful?
Heracleum mantegazzianum, commonly known as giant hogweed, cartwheel-flower, giant cow parsnip, hogsbane or giant cow parsley, is a plant in the family Apiaceae. In New Zealand, it is also sometimes called wild parsnip, or wild rhubarb. It typically grows to heights of 2 to 5.5 m (6 ft 7 in to 18 ft 1 in). Superficially, it resembles common hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium), Heracleum sosnowskyi, or garden angelica (Angelica archangelica). It is phototoxic and considered to be a noxious weed in many jurisdictions. Giant hogweed is native to the Caucasus region and Central Asia. It was introduced to Britain as an ornamental plant in the 19th century, and it has also spread to many other parts of Europe, the United States, and Canada.
The sap of giant hogweed causes phytophotodermatitis in humans, resulting in blisters and scars. These serious reactions are due to the furocoumarin derivatives in the leaves, roots, stems, flowers, and seeds of the plant.
Moon is probably just joking. Being sarcastic.
Whenever there is a clear danger, say like Pit Bulls, there is always somebody saying “That’s not true. There is no danger, only incorrect usage and application.”
oh crap- i just made a survival shelter out of this weed-
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