Hogweed is an herbaceous plant from the Umbrella family. It is known to many because of its ability to cause burns. At the same time, the Russian name indicates that young leaves were used to make soups, borsch and second courses. The scientific name - Heracleum or Hercules grass - speaks of the gigantic size of the entire plant, its leaves and umbrellas. Hogweed is most widely distributed in the temperate zone of Eurasia, although it is also found in North America. Most often, it grows in bright deciduous forests, in wet meadows, along rivers and roads. The attitude to hogweed is ambiguous. Some species are very toxic to humans and animals, while others are used as food, as a medicine, as well as to decorate the site and in agriculture. It is not surprising that poisonous weeds are constantly struggling, but decorative and healthy varieties are successfully cultivated.
What does a hogweed look like
Hogweed is a young plant. Usually its life cycle is 2 years and only in rare cases more. It is fed by a core rhizome with many surface branches. The depth of the roots reaches 2 m.
Upright branched stems resemble fleshy hollow tubes. Their average height is from 20-50 cm to 2.5 m. There are specimens up to 6 m high. On the bare stem there are hard scales and villi. It has a ribbed surface.
The leaves are concentrated at the base in a dense basal rosette. Openwork leaf plates of cirrus-dissected or lobed shape consist of 3-7 segments of various sizes and shapes with serrated or irregularly serrated edges. The color of the foliage is silver-green or dark green. Each leaf is located on a long handle, which with its base encompasses the stem.
In June, complex umbrellas appear on the tops of shoots. Flowering lasts 1.5 months. The diameter of the inflorescence is about 40 cm. It has up to 150 rays with small greenish-yellow, white or pink flowers. Hogweed flowers contain a large amount of pollen and nectar, which serves as protein food for pollinators. Hogweed are monocarpic plants, their flowering occurs only once. Then the plant dies.
After pollination, two-seeded flattened capsules of an oval shape appear in the place of flowers. After ripening, they open easily and release the seeds.
The danger of hogweed
For humans, the greatest danger is physical contact with the cow parsnip. The clear sap of the plant is hard to see on the skin. It does not cause burning or other discomfort. At the same time, the sensitivity of the skin to sunlight is greatly increased. This feature of hogweed is called phototoxicity. Essential oils and coumarins contribute to burns. On clear, hot days, it’s much stronger. In a few minutes or hours (up to a day), large bubbles filled with liquid appear. If the juice gets into the eyes, then irreversible processes can begin up to blindness.
During the flowering period, the danger increases. The sharp aroma, similar to the smell of kerosene, extends several meters from the plantings. It causes allergic reactions and breathing problems.
Of course, direct contact with the plant should be avoided in every possible way, but if it has already occurred, you can help as follows:
- thoroughly wash damaged areas with plenty of running water with soap;
- treat with alcohol-containing drugs, furatsilinom or a solution of potassium permanganate;
- apply panthenol or another sedative;
- Do not use pressure or fixing dressings;
- prevent sunlight from entering the affected area for at least 2 days.
The doctor can provide the most effective help, so you should not hesitate to visit the hospital.
Popular views
In total there are 70 species of hogweed. They are conditionally divided into poisonous, eradicated weeds and ornamental plants.
Poisonous plants
The following plants are poisonous.
Hogweed of Sosnowski. This is a very tenacious perennial plant native to the Caucasus. Its height reaches 3 m. Powerful branched shoots form a strong shrub. Large light green leaves grow 1.4 m in length and up to 0.7 m in width. The inflorescence with white or light pink flowers in diameter reaches 50-80 cm. It blooms in July. Reproduction occurs exclusively by seed. The juice of this species is rich in furanocoumarins. Getting on the skin, under the influence of ultraviolet radiation, it is able to cause severe burns until death. Initially, the plants were cultivated as an agricultural feed crop. However, it was found that it affects the genetic code and causes a mutation of animals.
Hogweed Mantegazzi. A giant fast-growing plant with a height of about 6 m spreads very quickly across the surrounding area. The diameter of the shoots reaches 5-10 cm. Bright green pinnately-dissected leaves with 3-5 segments grow at their base. The leaf length with petiole is 3 m. In June-August, the top is decorated with a dense umbrella inflorescence. After fruit ripening, the plant dies. The juice of the variety is also rich in furanocoumarins, which cause burns on the skin, so in many countries it is fought against at the state level.
Common hogweed. Herbaceous perennial with hollow, slightly pubescent stems grows 2-2.5 m in height. Lobed leaves with 3-5 lobes grow on long petioles. They are saturated green. White small flowers form a complex umbrella up to 40 cm wide.
Harmless plants
The following plants are considered harmless.
Siberian hogweed. A branched biennial 1.2-2 m high grows dark green cirrus foliage. She is also concentrated near the ground in a dense outlet. Each leaf plate has 3-7 lobes. Yellow-green flowers bloom in umbrella inflorescences with a diameter of 16-20 cm. Flowering begins in late June. Plants are not toxic and aggressive growth, but have many medicinal and decorative properties.
The hogweed is hairy. A herbaceous biennial about 150 cm high consists of rounded furrowed shoots 3-5 cm in diameter. Oval or rounded foliage 50-60 cm long has a green color and is covered with silver pile. Umbrellas with small white flowers in diameter are 15-20 cm.
Cultivation and care
Since hogweed is very easily propagated by seeds and gives a good self-sowing, it makes no sense to use vegetative methods of reproduction. Usually the seeds are harvested slightly immature, as they quickly crumble. You can also tie up umbrellas with gauze. After drying, crops are produced immediately in open ground. In mid-autumn, before the onset of frost, they close up to a depth of 2-3 cm. Additional shelter is not required. In the spring, after snowmelt, the first shoots appear. Initially, the rhizome and green mass are actively developing. Flowering begins from the second to eighth year of life. You can also sow hogweed in the spring, but before that, the seeds are placed in the refrigerator for stratification for 2-3 weeks.
In general, the plant is quite unpretentious and tenacious. It is undemanding to the composition of the soil and place. You will have to take care of the hogweed slightly. But there are also optimal growth conditions necessary for decorative forms.
Lighting. The plant develops well in bright sunshine, in direct sunlight, but can also be in partial shade.
Temperature. Hogweed is very hardy. It withstands heat equally well up to + 45 ° C and frosts down to -35 ° C. In summer, he does not need protection, and in winter, sheltering the soil at the roots.
Watering. Although the plant is able to withstand short-term drought, regular watering is necessary for rapid growth and the formation of dense green thickets. However, stagnation of water in the soil should not be allowed so that root rot does not develop. The surface of the soil is sometimes useful to loosen. Near young plants, weeds are removed, strong specimens perfectly suppress them on their own.
Fertilizers Hogweed can completely do without fertilizers. If the soil is very poor or you need to get lush bushes faster, you can spend one-time feeding. Her plan for the spring. Mullein solution is poured under the bushes or complex mineral fertilizer is used.
Weed control
Methods for the destruction of toxic forms of cow parsnip are constantly being improved. To date, more than a dozen of them have been developed. The following are considered particularly effective:
- pruning of unblown buds (since the hogweed blooms only once, it is enough to prevent it from blooming and setting seeds);
- the use of herbicides (toxic substances that destroy plants) - you need to spray before the appearance of flowers;
- burning (thickets are watered with flammable liquid and set on fire from the end of flowering to the complete ripening of seeds; it is important not to be nearby, since burning plants emit toxic fumes);
- plowing and weeding (on a small plot of land it is enough to dig the ground several times from early spring or regularly weed the beds, each specimen should be cut below the root neck);
- cultivation of fast-growing row crops;
- breeding insects, natural enemies;
- the use of agricultural technology (the use of plane cutters for damage to the roots does not allow the cow parsnip to develop and bloom and the weed is gradually eradicated without spreading to adjacent territories).
Medicinal properties
The harmless Siberian hogweed is often used in folk medicine as an effective drug. Effective infusions and decoctions are prepared from its roots and leaves. Ingestion helps get rid of kidney and gall bladder diseases, seizures with epilepsy. Decoctions of the roots are used to combat lymphadenitis, tumors of the female genital organs, bronchial asthma and hepatitis. Baths and compresses are effective for skin diseases, rheumatism or scabies.
Official medicine has not yet adopted this plant, but studies are being conducted and some doctors recommend combining traditional treatment with alternative. It should be remembered that the components of the plant are strong allergens. In order not to harm your own health, you must consult your doctor before use.
