Wild Parsnip Nasty stuff

[Budweiser John]

Any one out there have any idea where wild parsnip came from or is coming from? It looks similar to Queen
Ann's lace but once exposed to your skin makes poison Ivey exposure a walk in the park.
The good spouse and I have owned our farm for over 42 years and up until the past two years never encountered the problem.
Even a casual encounter with bare skin will result in a nasty rash that, when exposed to sun light will cause a nasty blister(s) that take weeks to heal usually leaving a scar.

 

[caps]

Your right, its bad stuff. I believe it was originally cultivated in Asia and Europe and has escaped and is growing wild. It looks like large Queen Anne's Lace. There was a short program about it on TV a month or two ago and advised that the best way to kill it is with herbicides - do not cut or pull up. I have seen it along the side of the road in Maryland, PA, and Virginia. The TV show was about its infestation in MN I believe. Virginia and Maryland both list it as an invasive species. I had actually not even realized it was there till seeing the show.

 

[Avondale]

It is now classed as a noxious weed in Ontario, thereby permitting the use of the "Good Stuff" to spray it dead. The sap is most dangerous when exposed to sun light, (UV activated) and leaves some nasty, chemical like, burns. I had to learn this lesson the hard way.

 

[RobertBrown]

Wow, I just read about that stuff. I had never heard of it before and I thought I Knew about poison plants. We don't have it down here.....yet.
That is some really scary stuff, can ruin your life, make you blind and give you cancer.
They should have left that plant in Asia.
snopes.com: Giant Hogweed Toxicity Warning
Glad you posted this, people need to know about it and avoid it....eradicate it.
Apparently it started in the pacific northwest, and spreading. Now it's in the Northeast. I'm thankful we don't have it down here, we have enough poisonous, invasive plants to deal with.

 

[forgeblast]

It might be giant hogweed https://www.google.com/webhp?source...ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=giant+hogweed&spell=1
If it is some places need you to call the state agency before dealing with it. ITs pretty nasty causes skin burns etc....
woops just read RobertPosted the same thing

 

[dmccarty]

I have heard of Giant Hogweed, and thankfully, I have not seen any. We have enough invasive plants as it is and this one sounds really bad.

I did not realize it was this bad though. Thanks for the warning.

Later,
Dan

 

[GolfAddict]

I hadn't heard of Giant Hogweed, but the Wild Parsnip the OP mentions is really nasty. It does look a lot like Queen Ann's Lace except it has yellow blossoms instead of white.

It has become a real problem here in MN...

 

[oosik]

I looked this stuff up, because we have Cow Parsnip & Queen Ann's Lace here. I would guess we are just very fortunate - no Wild Parsnip in our area. This was verified by the botanists at the wildlife refuge just across the road from my property.

 

[RobertBrown]

Like most plants and insects, this plant has more than one name. The same genus and species are referred to differently in different regions. The scientific name for this plant is "Heracleum mantegazzianum".
It looks like this....perhaps the OP, Budweiser John, could verify..
Heracleum mantegazzianum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

According to the U.S. Deprtmant of Agriculture, it is currently found in 4 states: Washington, Oregon. New York and Pennsylvania.
giant hogweed: Heracleum mantegazzianum (Apiales: Apiaceae): Invasive Plant Atlas of the United States.
Symptoms can be reduced or avoided by washing the contacted area immediately with cold water and soap. The furocoumarin (active ingredient) is phototoxic. It's toxicity is increase by exposure to sunlight. Then blisters form as it burns within 48 hours. Sensitivity to sunlight can persist for years after exposure. Should this compound enter your eyes you will have a big problem and could very easily loose your sight permanently.
One plant can grow as high as 15 feet and produce over 20,000 seeds a year, depending on the conditions, these seeds and the plant are edible.


More on this plant...http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1141/

 

[CanadianBeaverS370]

I found out the hard way what this stuff was in the late 90's, its been rampant here in SW Quebec since then.
I have been fighting it for 3 years ( since I bought my house ) so far the only way I found to eradicate it is to pull it out, but you need to get the complete root system or it will just re-spawn in the same spot.

As other have stated, the sap is the real danger. Cover up and avoid pulling it up in sunlight, I do it at night to be on the safe side..
and avoid it with the weed wacker at all costs, the sap will spray all over you and ruin your skin