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NY DEC Warns That Giant Hogweed Plant Could Cause Blisters, Blindness

July 5, 2011 10:34 AM
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File photo of a giant hogweed plant (credit: AP)

File photo of a giant hogweed plant (credit: AP)

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ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) – New York State environmental officials are trying to nip a huge, dangerous plant in the bud.

The giant hogweed, a monster plant with flowers the size of umbrellas and sap that causes blisters and blindness, is spreading across New York. The Department of Environmental Conservation is asking for help locating outbreaks.

The agency has set up a hotline at 845-256-3111 for people to call and report sightings of the invasive species. Callers are asked to provide photos and site information, but should avoid touching the plant.

This is DEC’s fourth year of controlling giant hogweed.

Six crews totaling 14 people will visit most of the 944 known giant hogweed sites. Sites with less than 400 plants will be controlled by hand cutting their roots; sites with more than 400 plants will be controlled with herbicide.

The plant has been spotted in Nassau and Putnam counties.

Have you seen the plant? Let us know below…

(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

View Comments
  • Jimmy

    Save the plants! Move all of the people that could be affected by it to San Francisco!

  • Mabel

    Why on earth wouldn’t this article have a picture of the plant??? It seems that a photo whole be rather helpful…..

    • Timmy

      Ummm… there is a picture.

      • Scudbuster

        Maybe she smoked it & can’t see it.

  • gary richter

    Most well known as wild parsnips in the midwest. Not the same as Queen Ann’s Lace.This stuff is larger, and not white flowered. The nasty dark blisters come when the contacted/affected skin is exposed to sunlight.

  • snake

    Causes blindness? Now we know why the people in NY vote the way they do, the plant has caused blindness to the real world.

  • The Hogweed Return!

    Background info? Listen to the Genesis song “Return of the Giant Hogweed” from the early 70′s. They tell how it got into England, just a short hp from there!

    • Fred

      I was hoping to leave a reference to the Genesis song, but you beat me to it. Heracleum Mantegazz!i

    • jim here

      you’re the man!! Just as Fred said , I was hoping to leave a reference to the Genesis song, but you beat me to it. Heracleum Mantegazz!i

      I’m in a basement prog cover band that is doing the final track on that album, The Fountain Of Salmacis

  • David Ramsden

    From the headline I thought they were talking about TRIFFIDS!

    • D Savageau

      Ramsden, you apparently are the only literate person on this chain. Day of the Triffids, a classic sc-fi novel from the 1950s, had space borne plants walking about stinging and blinding ordinary citizens.

      • ExSophus

        Actually, they trundled about on little wheels :)

  • L Smith

    Giant Hodweed has spread across the entire state already, There are very large patches of it EVERYWHERE around the capital district.

  • crmitchell

    Seems that if they really wanted peoeple to be watching for this, they would have included more photos, like maybe of the leaves. the overall plant, etc. Here, I’m left thnking Queen Anne’s Lace. The “giant plant” link takes me to a stinky plant ready to bloom at the U of Conn.

    Is this real reporting or just sensationalism ?

  • Doc

    This plant has been in upstate NY for at least 50 years and we”ve survived without government intervention to protect us from it.

    • ExSophus

      Ah yes! But you see…now we can SPEND MORE TAXPAYER MONEY to hire more people and buy more late model “reconnaissance” trucks and supervisor SUVs (which they can take home and use when “off duty” and long after the immediate “threat” is resolved).

  • Bill

    Another Divine judgment against a godless New England state!

    • MonsieurGeography

      Time to take a geography class. New York isn’t a part of New England.

      • CONNECTICUT SSN 042-68-4425

        Why does the number above belong to Barry? BirtherReport. com

      • Matt

        Maybe he is British, and considers America “New England”… I don’t know, but that is what I read. ;-)

    • Crikey

      THAT’S FUNNY, When New England WAS super Christy and godlike (Puritans) they burned women at the stake – I much prefer “godless” New England, pass me a lobstah roll!

      • knowhistory

        Nobody was burned at the stake in New England.

    • leon

      Oops! New York is not a New England state; it’s considered Middle Atlantic.

  • Alaskasfreedom

    The plant is called “Cow Parsnip” or “Wild Celery” Heracleum lanatum (Umbelliferae)
    Our Alaska roads and woods are full of it…stems are covered with tiny hairs that can be very irritating..the Natives here have many medicinal uses for it but be sure and do your research if you plan to use it for that!! The tourists stop along the roads and have their pics taken with it…It grows to 10 feet…how the heck can it survive in NY???? Google for more info…Good luck, Alaskasfreedom

  • scott feingoldstein

    wow thats a great full photo of the plant……..i’ll be sure not to be able to recognize it CBS news………COMPARE BBC NEWS TO CBS night and day

  • Paolo

    I believe the plant is of the genius liberolious, species demacratolious. This is a very common plant that is so vile it burns to the touch and omits toxic ooze that makes seeing logic, truth and reason impossible. It is a genetically engineered plant from the 60s that contaminated an entire generation. Many were immune but those infected now have government jobs, hold office in Washington and are recognized by their inability to be honest and productive.

  • MRCHRIS

    IT’S THAT DANG 2 1/2 MILE NUCULAR PLANT!

  • V. Delamarter

    This looks like the Queen Anne’s Lace that we have in the West. I have never heard of any bad effects of it though. Of course the QAL is not a large plant like this one is.

    • sunlandrvguy

      Well 35 years or so ago in Ontario County in Western NY I was unfortunate enough to find this plant and chopped it down. Not knowing what it was I was badly blistered and had a rash that came and went for the next 12 years!!! It is not a joke, and a very very dangerous plant.

  • dookie

    Must be an illegal alien plant. Can we just go ahead and bomb Mexico into the stoneage (which appears to be just about a decade ago)?
    Don’t want this plant stealin’ my job!

    • rocketman

      Your not employable because you are an idiot. Oh, you can clean the bathrooms the Mexican workers use.

  • Audrey II

    Feed me, Seymour.

    • ExSophus

      Looks like the family’s going to have a “Day of the Triffids” AND a “Little Shop of Horrors” marathon over the next few days. Thanks for the memory jog!

  • David

    Send in the tree huggers to rescue them!

  • cjhsa

    Smoke it already!

  • S. Hackbarth

    TR paranoia; get help.

  • TR Bender

    What did anyone expect. The populice are told waht they can and cannot do and even if they have to let the plant live by the green Nazi’s.
    The country is run by a bunch of idiots from Moscow on the Potomac and they send out the domestic terrorist EPA to do nothing.
    Did the greenies consider to find out if this plant is native and if not, then from what country ?
    I’m sorry, our poliburo does not mind destroying the States as long as they don’t offend criminals !

    • AnnR

      It is not native. Was imported by some “idiot” who thought it would be an ornamental.

  • Alan Whitney

    Invasive.

    So, from where did it invade?

    Doesn’t ANYBODY report anymore?

    • Patty Dukely

      Giant hogweed is a perennial member of the Parsley or Carrot Family native to Asia

  • tammy mansell

    we have a plant here in Alabama called queen anne’s lace looks just like it but a lot smaller then you discribed.

    • JoAnne

      I thought of Queen Anne’s Lace, too.

      • Swiss

        Queen Anne’s Lace is also known as “wild carrot.” It is the plant from which the common carrot that we find in supermarkets was derived (true). Hmmm. So, you think this might be a giant Killer Karrot?

      • Melissa Doyle

        It’s either queen’s anne’s lace or elderberries in bloom AND NIETHER ARE HARMFUL. In fact elderberries have many many medicinal purposes!

  • Tom

    Kinda’ like socialist democrats…..

    • nathan

      Yes thats relevant. Fool.

  • Bob Hahn

    Day of the Triffids

    • Tom Davidson

      Loved the book; hated the movie.
      If the giant hogweed learns to walk, I’m moving to an island.

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