Angelica or Giant Hogweed?
By Chrisvardy
United Kingdom 
Many years ago I purchased two small Angelica plants, as they die after flowering I took seed and planted some new ones that I shared with my neighbor. After the second lot had died we noticed that seedlings were coming up all over the place something that had not happened previously. These plants are now happily growing wild in a field at the side of my house. The Question is that my new neighbor is convinced that the plants are in-fact giant hog weed so how can I find out for sure? Both my daughter and myself have handled these plants, chopped and cut them down with no ill affects, I have even tasted the stem at one point. Hope you can help? Thanks Chris Vardy
14 Jul, 2015
Answers
Definitely giant hogweed, this is the 2nd question recently on the plant. Right now there is little you can do other than making sure it doesn't seed but do not let the hogweed touch bare flesh... before those flowers set seed put on a thick long sleeved jacket add industrial strength rubber gauntlets and cut of all the flowering heads. Bag and bin in the rubbish bin not the recycling bin. Then next year spray with Roundup when there are just a few leaves present and keep right on spraying until you eradicate! Our local Community Council is currently trying to get the Council to do something about hogweed seedlings in the childrens' playing field in the village, hopefully they will respond but the fact that 5 teenagers in England got badly burnt by hogweed in public parks is a little worrying.
14 Jul, 2015
What are the identifying criteria which make you say it is Giant Hogweed, please?
14 Jul, 2015
Size to start with, Owdboggy, although it would be shorter in a dryer habitat, then the reddish colouring on the stem and its stiff, bristley stem.
14 Jul, 2015
http://news.stv.tv/west-central/1324649-girl-left-with-huge-blisters-and-burns-after-touching-toxic-plant/
14 Jul, 2015
In the birding world you would just say jizz (just is!) if you've ever seen it Owldb it is total unmistakable... and a pain in the asp to try and contain... Just one of those plants the Victorian botanists brought back, escaped from the laird's garden and are now creating havoc!
14 Jul, 2015
This site is so time-consuming!! Having read this and was impressed with size of the hogweed, I then Googled it and.. spent the next half-hour reading about it and looking at pictures! So it's not just all the questions and blogs on here that take the time, it's the avenues they lead you down.
14 Jul, 2015
But isn't it interesting!
14 Jul, 2015
Oh yes, I agree, all very interesting, and all the time you're researching and learning, you're still alive and kicking, Honeysuckle;-))
14 Jul, 2015
When did you chop it up and eat Snoop, when it was very small? I think you would have found it almost impossible to chop up and eat a piece at the size it is.
15 Jul, 2015
Hogweed is edible.
The science of giant hogweed and similar plants is incomplete. Sometimes (make that very rarely), plants like parsnips will cause similar problems to giant hogweed so, conversely, they may be times that giant hogweed doesn't cause the problems it is known for.
What has to be remembered is that the giant hogweed doesn't cause the burns. It removes the UV protection from the skin so the light causes the burns.
It may be that the plants you have don't produce high levels of the furocoumarins that change the skin. It may be that the light level wasn't strong enough to cause burns after the skin had changed. It may be that your skin wasn't affected in the same way as the vast majority of people and animals.
That doesn't change the basic point that the plant is giant hogweed and you should keep well away from it. Assume you've been lucky so far.
15 Jul, 2015
Thanks Bamboo for pointing out that time spent proves I am still alive! More time just spent after reading The poisongarden reply. As country people we have always fed common hogweed to rabbits and pigs, but never eaten it ourselves. More Googling produced loads of information on eating most parts!
15 Jul, 2015
Its one of the many reasons I enjoy Goy Honeysuckle.......as well as the lovely friends ?
15 Jul, 2015
Hi All, thanks for your comments, it was in-fact at least 20 years ago that I purchased the original plants, We must have been very lucky because my daughter has sensitive skin and suffers with Eczema. We have pulled this plant out by hand, strimmed, chopped and mowed it with no ill affects. we have now got rid of it in the garden but as I said it grows wild in the field next door. based on your comments, I will contact the owner and we will seek advice on removing it. unfortunately Gold Finches spend ages on the seed heads and we have even seen a woodpecker getting grubs from the dry stems in winter but better to be safe than sorry. Thanks again for all your help Chris
15 Jul, 2015
Is it possible that your original plants were in fact Angelica, and these are different?
15 Jul, 2015
Tat is my thought Landgirl...
15 Jul, 2015
In Answer to your question Landgirl, My neighbor is convinced that this is some sort of hybrid as he has also been clearing it from his garden dressed only in a T shirt and in full sunlight. He has suggested getting the council out for a definite identification.
16 Jul, 2015
Chris so far as I know giant hogweed doesn't cross. Your Council has no responsibility unless it is on their land - even then it is a dodgy issue!
16 Jul, 2015
Hi Moon Grower, as I purchased the original plants from a garden center and for many years they never self set could the Angelica have become hybridised? Thanks Chris
17 Jul, 2015
Please let us know the outcome of these plants and whether or not they are identified as giant hog weed as it seems to have become a huge problem in the UK. Thanks.
17 Jul, 2015
Hi Chris unlikely I'd have said I'm pretty sure what happened is your angelica died out, they are often biennials, and the hogweed colonised the space.
17 Jul, 2015
Hi All,
Just to let you know, I contacted Ashfield District Council last Thursday and they were on to it straight away by involving our community police who in turn contacted a environmental officer.
Both came out today and said it is definitely Giant Hogweed and this will now be dealt with by the Environment agency.
Spot on service.
Still doesn't explain why over the years so many different people, friends, Neighbors and family have had contact with this plant with no ill effects.
20 Jul, 2015
Well at least it is now being sorted...
20 Jul, 2015
Luck of the draw probably - some people are more sensitive than others, and contact with the plant may not produce severe dermatitis if its not sunny at the same time, or you don't stay in the sun. I don't react to Euonymus sap, about which there are many warnings - but I do react to some conifers if they touch my skin. Everyone's different...
20 Jul, 2015
You are all very lucky people. Well done for dealing with it.
20 Jul, 2015
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Yes, those are Giant Hogweed, Heracleum mantegazzianum. It's an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to allow it to escape into the wild. The sap contains toxins which sensitise the skin and cause burns when exposed to sunlight, so you are very lucky you have not been harmed. You will need to contact either your local council or the Environment Agency for advice on control.
14 Jul, 2015