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Pest of the Month -- March
Giant Hogweed
| Giant Hogweed, originally from Asia, was introduced here as an ornamental. It is a huge plant, 10 to 15 feet tall when in flower, with bristly, reddish-purple spotted hollow stems 2 to 4 inches in diameter. The deeply incised compound leaves grow up to 5 feet in width. Giant hogweed flowers mid-May through July, showing a white umbrella-shaped head 2.5 feet in diameter across its flat top. Hogweed prefers moist soil and can quickly dominate ravines and stream banks.
This plant is a public health hazard. Skin contact with its clear watery sap combined with exposure to sunlight, produces painful, burning blisters that may develop into purplish or blackened scars. Contact with the eyes may result in temporary or permanent blindness. –some material taken from information distributed by King County Noxious Weed Control Program, Seattle, WA |
 Terry English, USDA APHIS PPQ, www.invasive.org |
Photo credits: USDA APHIS Archives, USDA APHIS www.forestryimages.org
Original document: 14 December 2005
Last updated: 14 December 2005
This site was created and is maintained by Pat Dillon, Department of Entomology,
University of Kentucky, S-225 Agricultural Science Ctr North, Lexington, KY USA
40546-0091 (phone: ).
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Please send questions or suggestions to: pdillon@...