Hog weed! freind or foe?

[RAPPLEBY2000]

Hog weed!

it's growing big and fast in a meadow near me 6ft plus already!

i am aware of it's highly dangerous acid sap that will burn flesh!
i have a friend that is scarred for life on his chest after hogweed bashing
(i know stupid!).

my question is this:

is Hog weed useful?

can we do anything with it?
taking into account its acid quality prehaps to remove something?
it would be great roofing material aprt from the danger!

 

[match]

Bear in mind that the dangerous hogweed being talked about is Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum), which is not native to the UK.

Other Heracleums, such as Cow Parsnip (Heracleum lanatum) are sometimes also known as hogweed - these however are significantly smaller and have some use as a foodstuff.

 

[stevo]

Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium- NOT GIANT HOGWEED) is edible.......indeed i tried it for the first time yesterday.............. The young shoots should be picked, before or just after the leaves have begun to unfurl......they can be cooked in pan with a knob of butter untill tender, bout 6-10 mins, then served with butter or a squeeze of lemon juice.......they have a distinct flavour, but i must say it was not to my cullinary taste! Washed well, they can also be eater raw.........never tried it tho

stevo

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

sorry yep,
Giant hog weed (is the one i refered to as hogweed)
sorry!

 

[Ketchup]

Hog weed!... my question is this:

is Hog weed useful?

can we do anything with it?
taking into account its acid quality prehaps to remove something?
it would be great roofing material aprt from the danger!

When well dried, the stems seemingly become harmless. I know people who have a giant hogweed dried flower in the sitting room at home, because they think it pretty. I Know someone who cut dried stems into trumpets and flutes, just like for sunflower stems. It doesn't seem to burn your lips

Not too sure though...

 

[Ed]

When well dried, the stems seemingly become harmless

They are fine when dried, and make excellent long containers for things like hand drill kits. Though is you are going to be sawing through dried giant hogweed, then make sure you are wearing a mask and gloves etc. A thin coating of wax will seal help seal it.


Ed

 

[gregorach]

A mate of mine had a digeridu made from giant hogweed. Very strange to play due to it's low mass, but it worked.

 

[bushtuckerman]

A mate of mine had a digeridu made from giant hogweed. Very strange to play due to it's low mass, but it worked.

blimey! i remember getting a sore mouth when we used them as pea shooters in the garden...very entertaining until the stinging kicks in. dead hogweed is also great for fire lighting.

 

[elma]

are these the plant we always see on our river banks, I've been told its called Japanese Hogweed


Ian

 

[Keith_Beef]

are these the plant we always see on our river banks, I've been told its called Japanese Hogweed

Maybe confusing the hogweed with Japanese Knotweed, which is not dangerous to humans or animals (AFAIK) but is invasive and smothers other, native, plants.


K.

 

[Ketchup]

Question for the Norwegians out there: is giant hogweed in GB, NL or B (Heracleum mantegazzianum) the same species as the "Tromso Palm tree"?
Do you have any uses for these?

I saw them when I visited Tromso years ago, and was quite impressed.

 

[xylaria]

The toxin in giant hogweed are a group of chemicals called coumarins they react with light to make the skin more sensitive to light. This sensitivy can be almost perminant and can lead to skin cancer and brown scaring of the skin. When courmarins are reacting with your skin they produce a rose petal/ cut grass smell so if you think you have come contact with the sap sniff your skin. spit on effected area copiously. then wash until the smell disapears. I still put sun block on the hog weed burn i received five years ago. i got the sap on both hands washed it off the hand that was most effected and nothing came of it, the other hand that I didn't wash still comes up with a brown blob every summer. so what you don't learn from experiance you can learn from cooper johnson

 

[Adrian Boots]

are these the plant we always see on our river banks, I've been told its called Japanese Hogweed


Ian

Careful - the ones on river banks may be Hemlock Water Dropwort (aka deadman's fingers) the tubers are incredibly poisonous. I 've seen cows die after ingestion - post mortem showed upper and lower part of plant still present - and that's with two stomachs!!!

Adrian