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we're being invaded by Giant Hogweed

Iron Woode

Iron Woode

Elite Member
Super Moderator
http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010/06/23/14494396.html

London children are facing a very big and nasty surprise in the woods of London these days.

The noxious giant hogweed, a veritable Douglas fir among perennials, is lurking there — and it’s no picnic.

The leafy menace has been spotted along pathways bordering the Thames River.

Merely touching the Asian invader can cause nasty blisters and then rubbing your eyes can lead to blindness.

A handful of sightings along the Thames Valley Parkway has left Bonnie Bergsma, the City of London ecologist, quite concerned.

“It’s nasty,” Bergsma said Wednesday.

“And there are some locations that are troubling because of the risk to young children, especially.”

The plant that resembles Queen Anne’s Lace on steroids and can reach heights of four or five metres is in bloom with its wide cluster of tight white flowers, Bergsma said.
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Hogweed

just what we need; a giant, dangerous plant growing near where people walk and play.
 
veritable and perennials.ugh... damn my 3rd grade education.


Sounds crazy though. "Feed me Seymour".
 
It's popping up all over here too. I'm west of Mississauga.

The sap they produce literally sun burns you to death. It reacts violently with UV radiation.

Stupid Dalton McGuinty banned the use of pesticides on private property and it's the only practical way to control this stuff. The alternative is to hire guys in (literally) hazmat suits to pull it up by hand.
 
mmntech said:
It's popping up all over here too. I'm west of Mississauga.

The sap they produce literally sun burns you to death. It reacts violently with UV radiation.

Stupid Dalton McGuinty banned the use of pesticides on private property and it's the only practical way to control this stuff. The alternative is to hire guys in (literally) hazmat suits to pull it up by hand.
Click to expand...
here they are using city crews. Guess how much that's going to cost?

there are other ways of killing plants. Boiling water is effective. And ATOT's favourite of killing it with fire works.
 
mmntech said:
It's popping up all over here too. I'm west of Mississauga.

The sap they produce literally sun burns you to death. It reacts violently with UV radiation.

Stupid Dalton McGuinty banned the use of pesticides on private property and it's the only practical way to control this stuff. The alternative is to hire guys in (literally) hazmat suits to pull it up by hand.
Click to expand...
(Herbicide.)


Iron Woode said:
here they are using city crews. Guess how much that's going to cost?

there are other ways of killing plants. Boiling water is effective. And ATOT's favourite of killing it with fire works.
Click to expand...
Wouldn't the resulting smoke carry some toxins with it though?
 
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You can't burn these plants. Their sap just hangs around in the air causing blisters inside your esophagas and lungs. And who wants those?
My boss had these growing on his property a couple of years ago. Not knowing what they were he pulled them up out of the ground. His hands are still scarred to this day. The only thing that gives him relief is coating his hands with Aveeno and wearing latex gloves.


To some ATOTers, that's their Saturday night.
 
Damn, that stuff sounds hardcore. Guess this means I won't be complaining about the stinging nettles around here anymore.

Def sounds like something that shouldn't be killed with fire. I've seen the effects of inhaling burnt urushiol before, and this plant sounds like it would be just as fun.

I wonder if the straight vinegar trick would work on this giant hogweed.
 
Chuck Norris v Giant Hogweed discussions start....now.

Chucks pee takes out Giant Hogweed. Want to know why? He drinks the sap directly from the plant.
 
wow, goats can eat it without getting sick, but it appears that it might make them infertile.
 
I just remembered that I have seen this plant back in 2000. It was growing near a bridge down the street from where I lived. I remember it being really tall and weird looking with green and reddish stems and the little white flowers. There was a few of them the last time I looked. I never bothered to take a closer look at it and I am glad I didn't.
 
kage69 said:
Damn, that stuff sounds hardcore. Guess this means I won't be complaining about the stinging nettles around here anymore.

Def sounds like something that shouldn't be killed with fire. I've seen the effects of inhaling burnt urushiol before, and this plant sounds like it would be just as fun.

I wonder if the straight vinegar trick would work on this giant hogweed.
Click to expand...

But if you inhale this, there's no sunlight in the lungs to trigger the toxicity... but someone above mentioned that it reacts anyway. :hmm: maybe there's another way to trigger it, or reacts at a low level even without light?
 
I'm glad I know what it looks like now - one of my coworkers walked through some on a riverbank. He was suffering big time.
 
for those who have not seen this plant:

hogweed2.jpg
 
Jesus!
Thankfully I don't go to near the shitty Thames, but I am 100% going to keep this in mind when I'm out on the trail...
 
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