It is a pretty ornamental plant<\/strong> , but beneath its bucolic appearance, it is a dangerous and worrying species . <\/strong>It is invasive, proliferating rapidly<\/strong> on roadsides, in meadows, on river banks and at forest edges. Contact can<\/strong> cause serious burns<\/strong> . Since 2017, this plant<\/strong> from the east has been on the European regulatory list of invasive alien species<\/strong> . Its production, distribution and use within the European Union are prohibited. This is giant hogweed<\/strong> , an ornamental plant<\/strong> that comes from Russia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How to recognize it? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Heracleum mantegazzianum<\/strong> ( Caucasian hogweed<\/strong> ) is a giant plant<\/strong> that measures up to 5 meters in height. Its leaves can measure around 50 cm to 1 m in diameter and its stem is robust, hollow and grooved. When flowering, it has white umbels (20 and 50 cm in diameter). It is a plant that grows at the edge of water. Originally from Eastern Europe, the plant has proliferated in the United States, France (East and North East) and Quebec.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The dangers of giant hogweed <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Contact with giant hogweed<\/strong> causes serious burn lesions on the skin<\/strong> , particularly when exposed to the sun. The sap of giant hogweed contains <\/strong>toxic<\/strong> substances which are activated by sunlight and cause huge painful blisters<\/strong> which develop over a few days under the action of the phototoxic toxin<\/strong> . These are serious<\/strong> 2nd and 3rd degree burns and leave residual hyperpigmentation spots<\/strong> (brown and persistent) after healing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you come into contact with giant hogweed, here is what you should do:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n – Remove the sap<\/strong> as quickly as possible with a wipe or tissue without rubbing, then soap and rinse thoroughly with cool water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Change clothes if they have been in contact with the plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Avoid exposure to light for at least 48 hours (duration of photosensitization).<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Avoid exposure of the affected area to the sun for at least a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n – If the eyes<\/strong> have been in contact with the sap of giant hogweed<\/strong> , rinse them thoroughly and immediately wear sunglasses to reduce the risk of exposure to light. The toxin<\/strong> in the sap<\/strong> can burn the eyes<\/strong> and cause permanent blindness<\/strong> . If contact is severe and the skin turns red, consult a doctor or the poison control center<\/strong> immediately .<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to avoid the dangers of giant hogweed<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n – Do not approach or touch the plant and keep children away from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n – If you encounter giant hogweed<\/strong> , especially if it is in an area frequented (especially by children), report its presence to the authorities<\/strong> of your municipality who will be responsible for eliminating<\/strong> it . Do not try to pull it out or mow it, because its eradication requires wearing protective equipment to prevent any contact of the toxic sap with the skin or eyes<\/strong> .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It is a pretty ornamental plant , but beneath its bucolic appearance, it is a dangerous and worrying species . It is invasive, proliferating rapidly on roadsides, in meadows, on river banks and at forest edges. Contact can cause serious burns . Since 2017, this plant from the east has been on the European regulatory list of invasive alien species . Its production, distribution and use within the European Union are prohibited. This is giant…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nanasadvice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nanasadvice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nanasadvice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nanasadvice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nanasadvice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=401"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nanasadvice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":403,"href":"https:\/\/nanasadvice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401\/revisions\/403"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nanasadvice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nanasadvice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nanasadvice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nanasadvice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}