The Giant Hogweed makes the mainstream news...

Blistering, blinding weed creeps toward a city near you

Keith Srakocic / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Do not try this at home: Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture agent Michael Zeller stands beside a flowering a giant hogweed plant before cutting it down and spraying it on a farm in McKean, Pa. Experts recommend calling an agriculture hotline to find out how to safely remove one of the weeds without getting injured.
By Linda Dahlstrom

Forget the blob: There’s another horrific, flesh-eating creature dripping toxic goo creeping toward New York – a really pretty plant.

Giant hogweed has blooms the size of umbrellas, but don't be fooled. The noxious weed's sap can cause third-degree burns and scar those who come into contact with it and then are exposed to sunlight, reports the New York Observer. The massive weed can also cause blindness if the sap gets in your eyes.

The weeds, immortalized in song by the band Genesis, are in various places around the U.S. but are especially rampant this summer in New York, where the state has set up aGiant Hogweed Hotline. Michigan offers a brochure with cautionary photos of what happens to people who’ve gotten too close. In Ironwood, Penn., an unfortunate man named Craig Poorker bought a home with what turned out to be 100 giant hogweed plants. Not knowing what they were, he cut them all down with a machete while wearing only shorts and ended up in the emergency room with severe burns on his legs.
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http://bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/07/06/7029173-blistering-blinding-weed-creeps-toward-a-city-near-you


The song...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSLcwGFyZRA (1972, Live - Studio)

Haven't seen any yet in my neck of the woods, but evidently they're aggressive plants so we'll see them soon.

be looking at a Triffid... :scared:

the giant hogweed and monitor the site for 3 years FOR FREE!

http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/72570.html

One of the benefits of living in a high tax, nanny state!

...He captured it and brought it home."

The song really is a ballad telling the story of the introduction of the hogweed to the UK, from which it found its way to the Americas.

And yes, near the end, Gabriel does use its name: Heracleum mantegazzianum (although he says "mantegazziani" and that's also what's printed in the album jacket).

of invasive species... Even today, plants and animals are carelessly brought in and allowed to roam unchecked...

Though some are brought in by accident, e.g. zebra mussels

:hide:

Pretty scary stuff.

http://www.wten.com/story/15026282/warning-to-new-york-beware-the-giant-hogweed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy3bC7yICU8&feature=related

Yes, yes, very lame, but that's what it seemed like to me. Sorta.

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

I remember reading that wild parsnip has the same problem; apparently so does wild carrot (aka Queen Anne's Lace).

Shame on you. :spank:

Occupational Hazard to me.:scared:

I thought it was just a corny line.

John Candy was dead?

Hint: This was the last photo ever taken of him...