Report Appearance of Giant Hogweed
There is a very noxious plant that has recently appeared in parts of New Hampshire called "Giant Hogweed" that needs to be eradicated. A small patch of it appeared in Hanover, New Hampshire, on Goose Pond Road. If you find some do not touch it, but call and report it to Doug Cygon at the State of New Hampshire, Department of Agriculture, at 603-271-3488.
What is it?
Giant Hogweed (GHW), Heracleum mantegazzianum is a biennial or perennial herb growing to 15 feet tall. It has a taproot, hollow stems that are 2-4 inches in diameter, and dark reddish-purple spots and bristles. The deeply incised compound leaves grow up to 5 feet in width. GHW has a large umbrella-shaped head up to 2 ½ feet in diameter across its flat top with numerous small flower heads from mid-May to Late July. Native of the Caucasus region, GHW is a Federal Noxious Weed and is listed as a Class A weed on Pennsylvania and Washington State Noxious Weed lists.
How bad is it?
Giant Hogweed sap causes a skin reaction known as photo-dermatitis or photo-sensitivity, causing large painful blisters with eruptions on humans and family pets. In the 1970Õs, many cases of poisoning were seen in Great Britain where children played with the hollow stems of the plant as pea-shooters or telescopes. In 1998, cyclist complained that contact with “large green plants” left their legs covered in broken and bleeding skin. Contact with the eyes can lead to temporary or permanent blindness. http://splash.metrokc.gov/dnrp/press/2000/x00706hw.htm
How do we tell the difference?
However, there is a hitch. There is another related plant that looks almost exactly like the Giant Hogweed, but which turns out to be "Cow Parsnip" which is considerable less noxious than the Giant Hogweed.
Yesterday I spoke to Doug Cygan (pronounced like Saigon). He works for the State of New Hampshire's Department of Agriculture. He is the person we call when we find what we think is "hogwart" or hogweed". He comes to look and then, if it is Giant Hogweed, he does what he can to eradicate the rascally plant. He did find some on Goose Pond Road in Hanover at a residence. This year we thought we had a lot of it along the roadsides. We called him and it turned out that we had "Cow Parsnip" which is considerably less "noxious" but which looks exactly like the Giant Hogweed, with very subtle differences. These are the differences:
Giant Hogweed (The baddest guy) Cow Parsnip (The not-quite-so-bad guy)
Darker purplish spots on stems Lighter purplish spots on stems
Grows up to 15 feet high (However if the plant is Grows 4-5 feet tall (a little smaller than the baddest guy)
In shade or undergrowth may be smaller)
Bristles on the stem are thicker and denser Bristles on the stem are softer and not as dense
*****Has oval or round seeds***** *****Has heart shaped seeds *****
For photos and information see:
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Carole A. Bont
Administrative Assistant
Town of Lyme
38 Union Street
P.O. Box 126
Lyme, NH 03768-0126
603.795.4639
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CaroleB@sover.net
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