Dear Twig: Oink! Oink! Oink! Hogweed! Hogweed! Hogweed!
OK ... let me guess. Hogweed? Giant hogweed? You heard about giant hogweed? Yes? Yes? I'll tell you what I know.
You don't want to mess with it, that's what I know.
Touching a giant hogweed plant, especially its sap, causes a painful skin reaction called photo-dermatitis. Sap-touched skin gets super-sensitive to sunlight and blisters when exposed. Possibilities include a purple rash, scarring, and, if sap gets into the eyes, temporary or even permanent blindness.
Giant hogweed, native to central Asia and towering up to 15 feet tall, has snuck into parts of the United States and Canada. The Michigan Department of Agriculture says hogweed is a way bigger health threat than poison ivy. David Marrison, an OSU Extension educator in Ashtabula County, the only Ohio county infested so far, calls hogweed "a beast."
Reeee! Reeee! The oinks caused by hogweed are oinks of alarm.
Twig
P.S. Giant hogweed is really giant! As tall as two Shaquille O'Neals, leaves the size o' Frisbees.
Dear Reader: David Marrison's account of giant hogweed in northeast Ohio's Ashtabula County is at ashtabula.osu.edu/ag/Adobe/hogweed.htm, or contact him at (440) 576-9008, marrison.2@osu.edu. Also, find details from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service at www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubsposter_phhogweed.html.
"Smart Stuff with Twig Walkingstick," a service of The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences - specifically, of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) and of Ohio State University Extension, both of which are parts of the College - is a weekly column for children about science, nature, farming and the environment. For details and to receive Twig free by mail, e-mail or fax, contact Kurt Knebusch, News and Media Relations, SCT, OSU/OARDC,1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, OH 44691, knebusch.1@osu.edu, (330) 263-3776. Available online at extension.osu.edu/~news/archive.php?series=science. Available in Spanish as "Cosa Curiosas con Juan Palitos" at extension.osu.edu/~news/archive.php?series=ciencia.
