Combat giant hogweed
Service description
Herbaceous perennial, also known as giant hogweed, blooms from July to September. Due to its size and large white umbel, it is beautiful to look at, but also poisonous.
The perennial with the white umbel flowers has been spreading for several decades. It finds good conditions on fallow land and along river banks, floodplains and more humid locations. One plant reproduces with up to 50,000 seeds, which can germinate for up to ten years. The light and buoyant seeds spread along waterways, roads and railways.
Contact with the plant under the influence of UV light (sunlight) can lead to burns on the skin. The plant therefore poses more of a health risk to humans. In order to consistently suppress the plant, it is also necessary to combat the populations on private land, as otherwise they can spread again from there. The help of you as citizens is therefore required. We are also appealing to the owners and land users of affected private properties to take on the task of removing the Hercules bushes.
What else should I know?
All parts of the Hercules plant contain a dangerous substance, furanocoumarin, which gets onto the skin on contact with the plant sap. When exposed to sunlight, furanocoumarin forms an antigen together with the body's own protein, which leads to a strong allergic reaction.
Blisters form on the skin, reminiscent of a severe burn, and a discoloration that can last for months. Vapors can also affect health and cause nausea, for example. Even dried stems, flowers and seeds still contain the dangerous furanocoumarin. The tricky thing is that there is no visible reaction immediately after contact. The greatest danger from sunlight occurs half an hour to 2 hours after skin contact.