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Soilutions

Specialists in the remediation of contaminated soils and groundwaters

You are here: Home / Guides / Identifying Giant Hogweed

Identifying Giant Hogweed

Part of our thorough Giant Hogweed Removal Guide. Click the link to get answers to your Hogweed questions.

As you can probably expect the most commonly asked questions regarding Giant Hogweed are “What does Giant Hogweed look like?”, “How do I identify Giant Hogweed” and so on and so forth. Hopefully this guide will go some way to answering those questions and provide you with the information needed to correctly identify Giant Hogweed.

A mature Giant Hogweed Plant
A mature Giant Hogweed Plant

We need to make you aware of the visual similarities between Giant Hogweed, Common Hogweed and Cow Parsnip. To the untrained eye these plants are bear a remarkable resemblance to each other. Click this link for the differences. As a precaution if you come across one of these plants and you are not sure which species it is, then just stay clear. Giant Hogweed and Common Hogweed are harmful to humans and their pets.

So, what to look for when identifying Giant Hogweed…..

Giant Hogweed leaves
Giant Hogweed leaves

Giant hogweed leaves are divided into three or five lobes and sharply pointed with a spiky appearance. The leaves have been known to grow 1 metre in width.

Serrated edges of Giant Hogweed leaves
Serrated edges of Giant Hogweed leaves

The serrated edges of the leaf are a telling feature associated with Giant Hogweed. The underside of the leaves grow dangerous sap producing hairs

Giant Hogweed flower heads
Giant Hogweed flower heads

The flower heads shape resembles that of an umbrella and can grow to a diameter of 50cm

A close up of flowering Giant Hogweed
A close up of flowering Giant Hogweed

A close up of the flowers produced by Giant Hogweed. A single flower head can contain thousands of small white / off white flowers

Giant Hogweed seeding
Giant Hogweed seeding

When Giant Hogweed is ready to seed, the flowers will dropoff and the seeds produced in their place

The rays of a Giant Hogweed flower head
The rays of a Giant Hogweed flower head

A flower head can contain around 50 rays which grow off the stem and support the flowers

Giant Hogweed Stem
Giant Hogweed Stem

The stems are green and purple in colour and will grow between 5 – 10cm’s in diameter

Sap bearing hairs on Giant Hogweed Stem
Sap bearing hairs on Giant Hogweed Stem

The hairs growing on the stems and underside of the leaves produces the sap, which if brushed against can cause serious health risks to humans and pets alike.

Giant Hogweed Removal

Everything you wanted to know about Giant Hogweed but were too afraid to ask

Accurately identifying an invasive weed without any prior knowledge can be tricky for the lesser green fingered amongst us, especially when there is a health risk involved. This free eBook will help educate, identify, treat and address the dangers of Giant Hogweed. Download it now for free!

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Guide to Soil Remediation
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Guide to Japanese Knotweed Removal
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