GIANT HOGWASH

GIANT HOGWEED
     Since I have not personally seen the Giant Hogweed appearing along our streams and other wet spots and have not been blistered by molesting it, I have to rely on the reports of others. As a nurseryman, I have grown, displayed and sold (until there were complaints) both the Giant Hogweed, Heracleum mantegazzanianum and the native Cow Parsnip, Heracleum lanatum. I should be able to identify them if I found them growing wild.
   My concern is, that based on written descriptions and even photographs, the very common and quite harmless Angelica is being mistaken for the Hogweed.This is not not the European plant used in liqueurs and as a candied confectionary but Angelica atropurpurea with reddish-white flowerheads, not pure white like Hogweed.
Should you ever see Giant Hogweed in flower it would be impossible to make such an error. The flowerheads are huge; often likened to a cartwheel, up to 30 inches (50cm) wide. A specimen 12 to 16 feet tall, with many flowerheads and impressive foliage is a sight to behold. That is the time to photograph it, perhaps with your toddler underneath to show its' scale, as this will be your one and only chance. Once the Giant Hogweed flowers and sets seed it dies. It is monocarpic.
   The smaller but still grand Cow Parsnip is biennial, flowering then dying in its' second year. We need the word 'monocarpic' as biennial won't do. Giant Hogweed flowers when it is 6 years old ; then it's gone.
   Angelica, Anise, Carrot, Celery, Dill, Fennel, Lovage, Parsley and Parsnip are all in the same family. Not everybody gets blisters from this plant group although a few unfortunates are particularly sensitive. Some find ordinary celery almost deadly as it could lead to anaphylactic shock. So, hold the Bloody Mary garnish. And no Celery Salt either.
   A gardener once showed me her upper arm and shoulder that had been blistered and even now some weeks later her skin still had dark pigmented splotches where she had wiped her palm after handling a plant. The skin on our palm seems to be made of tougher stuff and wiping your hand on your arm is a natural enough gesture. Supposing that it was caused by a Heracleum I showed her our two varieties but she did not recognize them. At my request she came back with a sample of her plant wrapped in plastic. I immediately recognised by the size of the stalks that were ribbed like celery that it was Parsnip, Pastinaca sativa.
   Parsnip  is a yellow-flowered biennial grown as an annual for its' sweet white carrot-like tuber that is harvested after the first frost. It was very much valued as a winter vegetable and our earliest settlers would certainly have brought it with them from Europe. I never heard tell of any blistering effect. Perhaps our grandparents were made of tougher stuff.