We live peacefully side by side with most Bear Claw species. If, on the other hand, giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) comes into play, conflicts with humans and animals are unavoidable. This guide tells you why hogweed is so dangerous and gives practical tips on how to combat it.

Bear Claw has large leaves and white flowers

Beautiful and extremely dangerous - worth knowing about the giant hogweed

With its majestic shape and beautiful, white umbel flowers, giant hogweed cunningly deceives us about its danger to humans and animals. The following short profile sums up what makes the hogweed so threatening:

  • Growth height: 150 to 300 cm, rarely up to 400 cm
  • White to pink flowers in double umbels: 30 to 50 cm in diameter, 30 to 150 rays
  • Flowering period: June and July
  • Pinnate leaves: 100 to 300 cm long
  • Hollow, hairy, red-spotted stem up to 10 cm in diameter
  • Toxicity: phototoxic plant sap causes burns on the skin of humans and animals

Even a single giant hogweed forms myriads of seeds that help the poisonous plant to spread invasively. As a result, more and more people, mainly children, are coming into contact with the toxic plant sap. If sunlight falls on the moistened skin, violent reactions with itching, reddening and blistering occur within 48 hours. In the worst case, second- to third-degree burns occur.

Remove Bärenklau professionally - tips for combating it

The best time to control giant hogweed is in March and April, just before flowering. Please protect yourself from the poisonous plant sap with overalls, gloves, boots and a mask. Ideally, you're dealing with the floral aggressor when the sun isn't shining.

Remove the Hercules perennial from the bed in stages. First, cut off the above-ground parts of the plant. Then use the digging fork to lift the rootstock out of the ground. The remains are not suitable for use on the compost heap, but should be destroyed completely or disposed of with household waste.

After 3 weeks, please check the infested area for renewed shoots of the poisonous plant. In the following 5 years, the bed should be examined every early summer for offspring of the hogweed.

tips

In the wild there is a whole crowd of nasty plants that look confusingly similar to Bear's Claw. A prime example is the deadly poisonous spotted hemlock (Conium maculatum), which gives its name to the legendary hemlock cup. In ancient times, the poisonous plant was used for executions and is still primarily associated with the execution of Socrates in 399 BC.

Category:

Herbs