Giant HogWeed

The community council recently carried out a survey of the locations of Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegezzianum) (GH) in the Riverside Community Council area, to help direct Stirling Council to the worst affected areas on public land. Spraying will be starting at the end of April/beginning of May.

 

A Brief History

Giant Hogweed is an invasive plant, native to southern Russia, and was brought into the UK in 1820 by those intrepid Victorian plant-hunters. Little did they know what mayhem their plant collection habits would unleash on the country in the years to come!

 

The 70s rock band, Genesis, even dedicated a song to it -  ‘The Return of the Giant Hogweed’…

(Verse 1) “Turn and run, nothing can stop them
Around every river and canal
Their power is growing
Stamp them out, we must destroy them
They infiltrate each city
With their thick dark warning odour

[Chorus]
They are invincible
They seem immune to all our herbicidal battering”.

 

So, what’s the problem?

Well, apart from their relentless ‘infiltration’ across our countryside and crowding out our native plants, the fact is that this scary-looking plant is very dangerous to humans and animals. If the sap gets onto the skin and reacts with sunlight, it can cause severe burns and blisters.

 

What did the Riverside survey find?

The priority was to survey the areas most likely to be affected by GH on public land i.e. the riverbank and adjacent to the riverbank, including grassy recreational areas, but there are plants present on private land that have a potential for the seeds to spread more widely across ownerships.

 

However, not all plants have been recorded due to the dangers of accessing them on the banks of the river, the dense vegetation on the riverbank and because there are too many plants to record individually.

 

The findings can be seen on a the below map (also accessible online at this link - Riverside Giant Hogweed Occurrences).

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Where plants occur in numbers, the areas that they are found in are recorded on the map as polygons e.g. recreational grassy areas. The plants may be spread over a wide area, so we look to the eagle-eyes of the council’s team when spraying!

 

Raising awareness of the plants’ presence

It has been impossible to put tape round every plant to highlight the hazard and flag up the presence to the council team, so the most prominent plants have been taped. The tape has been tied to a nearby twig or branch that is usually within 2m from the plant(s), as illustrated below.

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Where can I find more information about Giant Hogweed?

There’s an excellent website by the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative, with a ‘Useful Links’ section, telling you all you need to know.

 

Further information is available from the Stirling Council website about identification, risks and what to do if you spot any.

 

Take care out there!

 

“Waste no time, they are approaching
Hurry now, we must protect ourselves
And find some shelter
Strike by night, they are defenceless
They all need the sun
To photosensitize their venom”.

(Genesis, ‘The Return of the Giant Hogweed’ (Verse 2)).

 

Many thanks to Sue Dumbleton for the use of the photo of the Giant Hogweed.